Loba
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: AU, Extreme-AU in fact. Emma came through the wardrobe some place else, some place where she was raised and trained to be more than just a savior to a few kingdoms. She is now Loba, the first female Makai Knight, enemy of Horrors and protector of mankind!
1. Storybrooke

Title: Loba

Author: Joshua

Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time, and all associated characters, are owned by ABC, and by proxy, Disney. Garo is a Japanese TV _tokusatsu_, and all associated concepts and characters were created and are owned by Keita Amemiya and broadcast by TV Tokyo. I own neither and stand to make zero profit from writing this bit of fiction, beyond personal enjoyment. So enjoy, and do not sue me!

Summary: AU, Extreme-AU in fact. Emma came through the wardrobe some place else, some place where she was raised and trained to be more than just a savior to a few kingdoms. She is now Loba, the first female Makai Knight, enemy of Horrors and protector of mankind!

Premise: Garo is a live-action adult fantasy action series that involves heroes transforming into 'magic' armors and fighting monsters with lots and lots of wire-work, in the same genre as Power Rangers or Kamen Rider, but again, geared towards adult audiences instead of kids or teens. The concept is based around three factions; the first is the 'monsters' in this case called Horrors. Horrors are black inky white-eyed demons that come through "_inga_" portals, _inga_ being the word the series uses for _sin_ basically. Evil human intentions, where some action involving one or more of the seven deadly sins (pride, lust, envy, wrath, greed, sloth, gluttony) occurred and thereby allowing a Horror to crossover from the netherworld. It will then possess/consume a human host, and use that individual's particular... "sin" to then turn around and cannibalize other humans. Which brings us to the two anti-Horror factions; the Makai Knights _(Kishi)_ and the Makai Priests _(Hoshi)._ The Priests have existed for as long as the Horrors have plagued humanity, using their magic and power to fend off, seal, and banish the demons from the human realm. As humanity's darkness grew, so did the Horror's powers, and so the Priests created the Knights, dedicated warriors that were granted special armors and weapons and trained solely in destroying Horrors and nothing else. A Priest can use a variety of focus tools, but the most common is a brush, much like those used by priests of old in Fuedal Japan to ward off evil spirits and the like. From it, they 'paint' their spells into the air or fire blasts of energy or create barriers to trap the demons. Some even use mechanical puppets to allow them to go on the offensive next to their Knight partners. Knights, on the other hand, tend to work alone, receiving orders on where to go and what Horrors have been sighted from 'Watchdog' posts in each Area. They wield one weapon they've specialized in, most use single blade swords, but others have wielded twin-blades, others spears, axes, sword and shield, and one even a bow and arrows. When summoning their armor, which all Knights have a 'wolf' inspired visage to in all cases, they make a circle with the edge of their weapon, which creates a ring of light, which then breaks open and their armor then falls out of and surrounds them. The armor and weapons of the Makai Knights are made out of a very special material known as "_Soul Metal_" which is very toxic to human skin, and can weigh several tons or be light as a feather in the hands of a trained Knight. It is especially effective against Horrors. Due to the dangers, a Knight cannot wear their armor for very long, in fact there is a built in timer of 99.9 seconds, because when that time runs out, their armor begins to consume them, transforming them into a Makai Beast, which in some ways is worse than becoming a Horror. Each Knight is also equipped with a Madougu, a Horror detector and sometimes adviser. Madougu take the appearance of silver jewelry, sometimes rings, sometimes necklaces, sometimes bracelets. Each has their own personality and in addition to the support they provide, some can generate Madou Flames, which can further damage Horrors, and also help in identifying Horrors still in human disguise. Also, after defeating 100 Horrors, each Knight faces a challenge, of fighting their armor in order to gain a greater power, specifically the ability to summon a Mado Horse, or steed. This increases the Knights fighting power by more than a hundred, and grants them the ability to cross realms as well.

Emma was initially trained to be a Makai Priestess, but when it was discovered that she could control Soul Metal, with only minimal training, a great number of exceptions were made and she became the first female knight to be trained and issued armor, _ever_! Her weapon is a straight-edged longsword, her Armor bears the title _Loba_, and is a white wolf with gold accents and female... features. Her steed is named _Garou_. Her Madougu is an armband around her right bicep, taking the appearance of a howling wolf, the head of which can still move and talk, that goes by the name _Tenka_, which means 'snow'. She's also trained in the ways of the Makai Priests, but most of her power and experience has gone towards the sword rather than the brush.

Storybrooke:

_**Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns.**_

_**And yet by the blade of knights, mankind was given hope.**_

It was night. The city was alive with activity and people running about. Since midsummer, things had been rather quiet in the city of Boston. Well, compared to how it had been before Emma Swan's—the Makai Knight known as _Loba_—arrival in the city and in the years since. As a matter of fact, tonight's orders from the Watchdog were the first she'd received in a month, having occupied her time by hunting down _Inga_ Portals and a few cold cases.

By that, of course she meant _all_ the cold cases. It had taken her a little over twenty-eight months, but she had tracked down and resolved all the old stories and mysteries of the Eastern district since her arrival and discovering that the Watchdog tended to only have a mission for her once a week at first. Since the end of summer, though, the new pattern had been set to once a month, which was something to be concerned about, if only for the sake of her sanity and keeping her skills sharp.

This particular Horror seemed to like the dating scene, having been active for less than a week, but already consumed more than eight different women. All on first dates. First dates organized by one particular dating site. Which is why she was currently walking into a high-end restaurant wearing pink stiletto heels and a hot pink dress that came to just above her knees with a plunging neckline that gave a better view of her cleavage than she was strictly comfortable with. This was one of the times that she was truly jealous of her fellow—_male—_Makai Knights. They could actually show up to something like this in their standard leather armor and coats, making them look eccentric and trendy. Her? No, she had to wear a _dress_! Because anything else would make her look uncivilized.

Sexist pigs.

She kept her trademark red jacket on though, glaring at the maîtré d' when he initially offered to take it for her until he backed off. Walking steadily through the restaurant, much like when she was tracking Horrors—which was sort of what she was doing now—Emma made her way to the table and where she sensed the Horror's presence. She would need to confirm before taking action, but she was at least sure that there was in fact a Horror here.

Finding her 'date' wasn't that difficult in the end, she just followed the stench of Horror.

"Emma?" the man at the table stood to his feet upon seeing her approach.

"Ryan?" she identified him from the dating profile on the site. "You look relieved."

"Well, it is the internet," he shrugged, holding out her chair for her as she sat. "Pictures can be..."

"Fake, outdated, photo shopped onto the the bodies of Victoria Secret models," she supplied.

"So, tell me something about yourself Emma," he said as a way of getting the date started once they were sat down across from each other.

"Oh, uh, well, today's my birthday actually," she admitted, ignoring the pinch on her arm as she did so.

"And you're spending it with me? What about your friends?" he asked, surprised.

"Kind of a loner," she shrugged. "Plus my job keeps me busy. Things have been slow of late, hence the blind date to fill in the hours."

"What about your family? You don't like them or something?" There was a sudden interest that hadn't been there, in his eyes and the way he was rubbing his hands together.

"No family to like," she shrugged again, reaching for the Madou Lighter in her clutch purse.

"Oh, that's a shame," he said with just the appropriate amount of sympathy and not a hair more. He'd stopped rubbing his hand and started licking his lips by now. "Well, I'm hungry. Shall we eat?"

"Sure," she grinned, all the more convinced that this was indeed the target. "Just one thing first, hope you don't mind, and I'm glad you chose a spot in the smoking section..." she trailed off, pulling out a rolled up piece of paper and the Lighter.

"Oh, not a problem," he shrugged, paying more attention to the menu at the moment. "I managed to go through my pack before you even got here. I'll probably beg one off you later on."

"Sure," she smirked.

"Hey, help a girl out?" she held up the paper and lighter. He looked up and she ignited the green Madou Flames so she could see his eyes as they did their magic. The man's pupils turned white and glyphs formed around them, positive sign for a Horror.

He snarled suddenly and tipped the table over before running for the exit. She only just managed to move out of the way to avoid getting anything spilled on her dress. Just because she didn't like wearing them didn't mean she was about to let her only one get messed up because of a spooked Horror.

_Nice work. Now he's getting away. Perhaps you might have waited until the end of the date, hm?_

The blond woman in red and pink ignored the commentary from the silver and gold band of a howling wolf on her right bicep, and steadily followed her prey out of the restaurant, avoiding the chaos left in its wake with a practiced gait. To her surprise, the monster had actually run to its car across the street. Fortunately, she had anticipated that and continued across the street, actually stopping traffic as she passed. There was a joke somewhere in there about that, she just couldn't be bothered to deal with it at the moment.

Starting the car and shifting it into drive, the Horror was, well horrified to find that the car was not moving. Looking out the window he saw that there was a wheel lock, keeping the car from moving at all. Knowing that it was dead if it didn't keep running, the Horror crawled out the other end of the car and ran down an alley between the nearest buildings. Emma did not bother slowing or speeding up, though once she was in the shadows of the buildings, she pulled her Soul Metal Sword from where she'd hidden it in her jacket.

The white scabbard and hilt gleamed in the low lighting of the alley, letting the Horror know just how close its predator was, and her approach. After a few panicked turns down blind alleyways, it was only a matter of time and circumstance that ended the chase at a virtual dead end. The man tried to find some way out before turning back to try some other route, only to come face to face with the woman in red, wielding a white sword.

"Please," he begged, backing away, "Don't do this. You don't have to do this!"

"I'm pretty sure that's what all those women screamed out when you devoured them," Emma replied, drawing her sword. "Besides, it's my job. You know, the one that takes up so much of my time? I hunt Horrors like you, and I protect humanity from your kind."

"_Makai Kishi_!" the Horror, its eyes still white, growled.

The blond knight just smiled and said, "Got it in one. You must be one of the smart ones."

_Must you always taunt them?_

"Shut up, Tenka," she snapped at the armband Madougu.

Seeing that as an opportunity, the Horror hissed and growled before jumping the space between them through the air, arms outstretched like claws. Emma took a short breath and then hopped back to meet the charge, using her sword and scabbard both to block his swipes. He tried to overpower her, but when she didn't so much as flinch, let alone crumble in her defense, he looked shocked. She just smirked at him and did a quick flip, striking out with both her feet to his sternum, chest, neck, chin, and head in a rapid delivery of kicks. The Horror flew back and struck the wall hard enough to kick up a fresh layer of brick dust.

Giving off that growling hiss again, it picked itself up and charged again, throwing whatever debris it could find at her along the way. She deflected it with simple swipes of her sword, meeting the charge with one of her own. She slid past the Horror and from its unguarded side, she jumped up and slammed a couple more kicks into it, knocking it back and away. She then blocked its flailing limbs with her arms and sword and scabbard. Seeing that it wasn't getting anywhere like this, the Horror stopped holding back and put all the force it could summon behind its next blow, aiming to take down her defenses straight on since it wasn't having much luck getting by them. Emma took the hit, blocking it with a cross section of sword and scabbard. She was knocked back to the other end of the alley, hitting the wall hard enough that she definitely felt it, but not enough to keep her down for any length of time.

Taking what little chance it had, the Horror jumped up to the roof of the tallest building around them, intending on getting away to snatch a meal of opportunity later on. The important part was getting away from the Makai Knight! And weren't they all supposed to be men? Who'd ever heard of a woman knight?

_He's getting away_.

"Remind me again why I even bring you along on these things?" Emma sighed, jumping up to the same roof the Horror had with the same level of effort, which is to say none at all.

_This would be why._

Emma grunted her frustration at the arm band and looked down at it, asking, "So, Tenka, do your job, and please tell me where the stinking Horror is. I'm actually hoping to get some sleep for once, on my birthday no less."

_I do so love it when you say 'please'. He's close. Two roofs to the north, still in human form._

Emma dashed across the gravel-top roof toward the northern edge, spotting her prey as soon as the distant roofs came into view. Seeing that she was unlikely to catch up before civilians got in the way, she decided to take a shot at slowing it down. Tracking the fleeing man's movements, she quickly identified where he would be going next and the moment that she jumped off the roof of the building, she threw her sword there as hard as she possibly could.

_That was reckless._

The white handled blade soared through the air like a sniper's bullet and struck the Horror in the back through the chest and driving him forward to be stuck to the wall of the building he'd just been about to jump onto like a bug in a display case. His scream of pain was loud enough to hear even from the distance she was at.

"You were saying," Emma smirked down at her right bicep as she landed on the nearest roof and quickly dashed across to the next.

_Lucky shot_.

By the time she got there, not even a full minute from when it had jumped up from the alley, the Horror had managed to dislodge itself by tearing an even bigger hole in itself, seeing as it could not handle a Soul Metal sword. The hole, of course, immediately regenerated, but it cost the Horror precious energy. It needed to feed.

Emma did not hesitate after seeing the Horror drop below. She jumped across the gap, retrieved her sword, which had been lodged into the stone masonry up to nearly half its length, and then dropped. She landed on her pink heels, only just managing not to scuff them in the process, and cast about with her senses for the Horror. A woman's scream from further towards the street gave her direction. Seeing the man drag a woman not much older than her, grocery bags dropped on the ground, told her the rest. Sheathing her sword, she ran all out for where the Horror had dragged the civilian woman.

She didn't bother with threats or ultimatums, that was for human adversaries, not beasts like these.

"Please, help me!" the woman screamed.

"Shut up!" he yelled at her, taking her by the arm and back of the neck.

"Hey," Emma said as she dropped down in front of them. "What happened to all those nice manners from before? You should know by now, when a lady says no, she means, _no_!" The blond struck out with a fast roundhouse kick and then a straight side-kick after grabbing his arm with hard-trained strength, forcing him to let go of the woman, dropping her to the ground but knocking him back and away.

"Go, get out of here," she shouted to the woman, keeping an eye on the Horror. "I'm a cop, back up is already on the way. This man is a wanted fugitive and serial killer."

"Th-thank you," she whimpered and then scrambled away.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," the Horror chuckled as he got back to his feet.

"Good thing I'm not wearing pants then," Emma tossed back.

"So," the Horror rolled his head around, cracking his neck, "I guess we're really doing this."

"Uh, yeah," she said, drawing her sword once again.

"Shame, I was having such a nice time on our date, too." His body began to morph and twist, becoming thicker in some areas, leaner in others. The end result was a monster that looked like a cross between a gorilla and a mantis, given that it only had four really thick limbs though the rest was a distinctively insect-based. Tenka quickly filled her in on the necessities.

_It is Kamatourou, known for feeding off the tortured emotions of couples in love. The man it possessed must be married. No worries about it infesting the wife though. It feeds off of the emotional turmoil of making its host's mate think they're cheating on them. Not very strong compared to most, unless right after a feeding. You should have no trouble._

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Emma chuckled and charged the transformed Horror.

It immediately jumped up and kicked her away. She caught herself before hitting anything and briefly spun the blade along her wrist before adopting a reverse grip and holding it even with her waist as she crouched down. As the mantis-gorilla monster fell toward her, just as it came into range she launched herself from her ready position and struck with her sword faster than a snake ever could.

"Aghhhh!" the beast screamed, falling to the ground.

_How much longer are you going to toy with it?_

The Horror regenerated the wound and charged again, moving faster than before. She was forced on the defensive, blocking everything she could with the flat of her blade, dancing around the Horror beast like they were doing the tango or something. Until finally, after a solid minute of blocking, kicking, punching, ducking, and dancing, the Horror landed a heavy blow that she couldn't block that well, sending her skidding along the ground until she slammed up against the alley wall. Not wanting to lose what little advantage it had, Kamatourou jumped over and manhandled the woman up off the ground and sought to inflict greater damage.

Emma wasn't having any of that though, and quickly got herself free with a simple self defense move, just performed with the greater strength afforded to her by her Knight training. Picking herself up off the ground, she decided that it was time to end this.

"Ladies and gentlemen, start your clocks," she joked as she held her sword horizontally above her head, before spinning it along her wrist so that it cut a perfect halo around her at the height of her outstretched arm.

Kamatourou recoiled, instinctively knowing what this meant, and too far away to do anything about it.

The halo of blinding white light was pierced, with the crash of something breaking, the barrier was broken and a heavenly light shone down all around the blond woman in red. Faster than the eye could track, though knowing that it happened had her sometimes thinking she could see them, cherub angels brought down and placed the pieces of her Soul Metal Armor onto her body and then vanished as quickly as they came, making it look like the Armor actually fell down onto her body from the breached barrier. Once the light faded with the closing of the barrier, the Makai Knight _Loba_ stood before the Horror Kamatourou.

The Armor only added a few inches to her height, and most of that was from the wolf-ear-features of the helmet. The overall color scheme was white with gold trim and gold-plated chain mail beneath and between the joints. The helmet was a snarling wolfshead, or perhaps werewolf visage, with gleaming gold fangs coming from the mouth and cobalt blue eyes shining from within the gleaming white face mask. Unlike most knights, that had large barrel-chested armor plates with huge elaborate shoulder pads, Loba's shoulders were sleek and unadorned, though with a single crescent moon symbol in gold along each shoulder. Her chest plate was conformed and freely displayed her womanly features, flowing along her lines exactly like most of those leather superheroine outfits in the movies these days, except made out of gleaming white metal with gold highlights instead of black leather. Her arms and legs were covered by the same gleaming white plate metal and golden chain mail under-armor, and at her belt was the symbol of her 'house', or in this case the symbol of the Loba Armor; a crescent moon framing a howling wolf. As the Armor came into place, her sword also transformed to its more powerful for; a double edged long sword, the hilt now forming a crescent pointing outwards, clear white diamonds at the pommel and center of the hilt. Some Makai weapons included symbols of protection or strength on them to increase their power, added to them over their years of use by each Knight that had wielded it before. Emma's had no such markings, being a shining double-edged blade of pure Soul Metal.

In the Netherworld, a clock began counting down from 99.9 seconds.

Loba wasted no time, and Kamatourou already knew that it could not escape. Its only hope lay in defeating the Makai Knight it faced. It hissed/growled and launched itself at her.

Loba moved quickly, more quickly that she had unencumbered by armor, flip-kicking the Horror further into the air before falling back down and jumping back up to meet it mid-fall. She struck, cutting a deep gash along one side, landed along the side of a nearby building with one foot before pushing off with said foot for another nearby building, landing another strike against the Horror. Another leap, another pass, another strike, this time actually taking off one of its arms!

Faster and faster, more and more strikes landed against the falling beast, dismembering it entirely and cutting so deep into its body that it could no longer regenerate. The final strike was just as it was about to hit the ground, but Loba landed first, taking the beast's head as she did.

"H-how...?" the head gargled its last word as it dissolved into purified _inga_ and returned to the Netherworld from whence it came.

Once the Horror was gone, Emma allowed _Loba_ to return to its resting place, flying back up into a halo of light that was there and gone so fast, most would see only the light reflecting off the Armor as it was pulled off of her and vanished. Nodding to see that there were no more threats, she wiped her sword clean, just to be thorough, and sheathed it beneath her armored red coat.

_Impressive. You didn't even have to use Blazing Armament. I almost expected you to play with him a bit more. Not that you should ever _play _with Horrors in the first place._

"Ah, I just had to get his timing down," she shrugged, walking back over to where the groceries had been dropped. Oh, a gourmet cupcake, yummy! "Once I had that, the only other thing was getting the angles of the area. I would end up wasting time if I summoned my armor at the start of the fight. Anyway," she took a quick bite of an apple that had been left in the bag, forcing her to talk around it, "lezz go cee da What-dawg and, mm, hopefully I can take the rest of the night off."

_And what exactly would you do with your early night? You are not exactly one to indulge in watching television or reading novels. Dare I say it, most of your night life consists of hunting Horrors. So what is with this sudden need to have a night off?_

"Not that it is any of your concern, Tenka, but sometimes a girl has to keep her secrets, and keep her skills up," Emma said impishly.

_Ah, I should have known. Beating up on helpless civilians is hardly a way to keep your skills sharp._

"Hey, I hold back, and yeah, street fights actually do help me keep my skills sharp. It helps me to know when and how much to hold back on. If I wanted to focus on getting stronger, I'd have accepted the offer of taking on that old estate, the one that has its own training space? I'm already the first acknowledged female Makai Knight ever. I'm not so ambitious to try climbing any higher up the ranks than that, thank you very much. Now open the path already?"

Tenka gave a metallic sigh, shaking its tiny wolf head. Right in front of them, a section of wall, completely out of sight unless you were standing right in front of it, fell away into the shadows, reappearing only after the blond woman in red had passed through it.

After a brief walk through a dark featureless corridor, she came out in the Watchdog's Sanctuary, a space created just for them, accessible only by the Makai Path. Each Watchdog decorated their space according to their own style, though the common feature was that the walls and ceiling were covered in shadows and the room itself was quite cavernous. This particular Watchdog was apparently really into fairy tales as the whole place looked like something out of a Grimm's Classic, especially with the medieval castle interior and prince's throne at the center. The only reason Emma bothered to listen to this particular Watchdog—aside from the rules that is—is because whenever she showed up, he was usually lounging sideways across the throne, or pacing around it. She had never seen him actually sit down in it like some kind of king presiding over his subjects. That and the fact that he looked like he was barely out of high school and made jokes about his own appearance and age were the only reasons she liked him.

"Emma! Wow, that didn't take long, did it?" he crowed from his position, which was sitting upside down on the throne, arms spread wide and a large grin on his youthful face.

"Eh, what can I say?" she shrugged. "He just wasn't my type."

"Such is the game of life," the Watchdog sighed. He suddenly flipped up off the throne and stood before her with an easy smile. "And can I just say, looking good, girl!"

"Oh stop," she teased. Then she pulled out her sword and said in a more serious tone, "But seriously, stop."

"Yikes! Hint taken, but can I just say that I love a woman that knows how to accessorize?"

Emma just smiled without saying anything, beyond unsheathing her blade that is.

"Right, gotcha, just this way then," he bowed and gestured toward the wolf statue just in front of the throne. "Doesn't this make your two hundredth Horror?" he commented just as she slid the blade home into the wolf's mouth.

"It does," she confirmed. "Uh, there isn't _another_ trial like there was with the one hundredth, is there?"

"I think you would have found out already," the Watchdog commented, as the light shone from the statue and an explosion of purifying mist came from it as Emma retrieved her Soul Metal Sword from it. "So not to worry. Enjoy the rest of your night off, Emma!"

"Wait, seriously? I don't even have to ask?" she said, surprised.

"Why would you have to ask?" the Watchdog shrugged, draping himself across the arms of his throne. "You've been a Horror-slaying machine since you first got your Armor, and you somehow seem to be able to track down _inga_ portals before anything can actually come through them, before even _I_ can track them down! As far as my senses and sources can tell me, there are no Horrors within the entire district. I say you deserve a night off after this. Enjoy!"

"Thanks," Emma said over her shoulder, already on her way out.

A quarter hour later, Emma was walking into her apartment, grocery bag in hand. She wasn't in the habit of stealing, but far be it from her to let fresh food go to waste. Especially that gourmet cupcake!

Speaking of which, she pulled it out as well as a small blue star candle from the drawer and lit it. Leaning down to rest her head on her arms, she stared into the candle and contemplated her life so far. She'd been told the story of her discovery since she was a young child, how the oldest tree in the Makai Forest had exploded under the light of a crescent moon, leaving behind a baby wrapped up in a blanket with her name and the image of a swan in flight stitched into it. A Makai Priest had witnessed the event and saved the infant from the Horrors that would have consumed her without hesitation. The Makai Council debated for a full year about what to do with the newborn infant. Meanwhile she was raised by the Priest and his family in Kantai village.

Though raised as their own, it was clear to everybody that Emma was an orphan and a foreigner at that, with her blond hair, blue/green eyes, peach white skin, and western features. So as much as she tried to fit in, children will be children and Emma was made to feel every bit as inferior and unwanted as was possible. Thus, when the Council decided that she should be trained as a Makai Priest, well, needless to say things did not go smoothly. She could certainly learn the moves and the spells, her problem was that she could never get anybody to practice with her outside of the main classes. So she spent a lot of time alone, getting a reputation as a loner, and also finding all sorts of places that technically she wasn't supposed to get into. Places like the Makai Knight Training Camp.

For the longest time, she hid and secretly observed the training of the boys and their Knight Trainers, all the while practicing both Makai Priest skills and the physical skills of the Makai Knights in private. It wasn't until Kantai was attacked by a hoard of Horrors that she finally was given the opportunity to prove herself. The event was burned into her mind even more vividly than the candle flame was burned into her retinas.

A transformed Horror was indiscriminately slaughtering knights and students alike. She'd been hiding up in the trees, trying to observe something that she hadn't seen dozens of times before when the Horror began its attack. Almost right below her, a Knight had summoned his Armor and was trying to buy time for the recruits to evacuate to safety. The Horror had gotten in a hit on his blind side, knocking him down and dropping his weapon. Emma hadn't even considered the consequences to her actions. She saw what needed to be done, her body knew how to do it from her private training, and her heart knew it was the right thing to do, no matter what anyone else might say in the end.

She jumped down from her hiding spot, grabbed the knight's weapon, in this case a short sword, and though it was Soul Metal, she'd managed to sneak one of the training pieces that the trainee knights use to practice controlling Soul Metal, so she had long since figured out the trick and handled it like any apprentice, which is to say that she could pick it up as though it were a feather, but she'd had no sword training at all. Nevertheless, the startling sight of a blue-eyed blond girl wielding a sharp sword that as long as she was tall—or nearly so—as though it were a foot long stick was enough to startle even the Horror, enough so that she could actually cut it on its main body and get it to retreat in pain. Having no real training in using a sword at that point, she'd pretty much flailed the deadly weapon around like a stick against a wild animal. Against trained opponents, or even an observant Horror, she should have been knocked aside or killed with one blow. As it turned out, in an unprecedented display of luck, the Horror was struck dumb and received several more deep cuts thanks to her flailing, enough that it decided retreat was better than even taking revenge on this insane hellion. Well, that's the way she told the story anyway.

Fact is, she only landed about three scratches on the thing, enough to startle it for sure, but before it could regroup and kill her where she stood, the knight had recovered and several others had rallied and drove it back before destroying it for good. Luck not only kept her from getting killed, but also kept any of the Horror's blood from getting on her during her flailing or the beast's destruction. She still got in trouble though, her luck wasn't quite _that_ good.

A week after that event, she'd been confronted by her adopted parents and several of the Makai Council, as well as the Knight she'd inadvertently saved. They wanted to know what she'd been doing and to see how well she could, or could not, control Soul Metal. She'd confessed to her 'private' training and picked up every piece of Soul Metal that they put in front of her with ease, everything from a similar training blade to what she'd practiced with before, to swords, axes, flails and pole-arms. Finally, her participation in the debate ended when the Knight asked her if she wanted to be a Knight instead of a Priestess. Her answer then is what lead to her being where she is now.

_Happy Birthday, Emma_.

"Another banner year," she said to Tenka, blowing out the candle as she closed her eyes and made a wish.

There was a knock at the door.

Emma frowned and got up. "Are we expecting anyone?" she asked her armband.

_No. But I can tell that whoever it is, is human._

Opening the door, Emma found a ten year old boy standing there, looking expectantly up at her.

"Can I help you?" she asked, trying to be polite. Still, she kept one hand on her sword, just in case.

"Are you Emma Swan?" he asked.

"Who wants to know?" she demanded, dropping politeness for caution.

"My name is Henry," he said, ignoring her sudden rudeness. "I'm your son."

He then moved passed her into the spartan apartment, and she just stood there, letting him. A soft noise from her Madougu interrupted her brief lapse into catatonia and she closed the door and followed the young boy into her kitchen. "I don't have a son," she stated as clearly as she possibly could.

Without missing a beat, he responded, "Ten years ago, did you give a baby up for adoption? That was me."

_Something before my time?_

"What was that?" Henry asked, looking around for the source of the voice he'd just heard, which had most definitely not been Emma's.

Ignoring both questions, the woman closed down all emotions, which were running rampant throughout her at the moment, transforming her face into an expression of virtual stone. Her stance was stiff and fluid at the same time, similar to how it was whenever she faced a Horror that had succeeded in royally pissing her off. When she spoke, her voice was like a cold wind that would freeze falling drops of water in the air.

"That was a closed adoption. I was promised that _no one_ would ever be able to track you back to me. This was for _your_ protection! How did you find me?" she demanded, actually scaring the kid.

He began to doubt whether this was a good idea or not, seeing that at least the Evil Queen didn't act like some kind of stone cold killer. "A-a-a website," he stammered, "whosyourmomma dot org. I'm sorry, I just… I need your help! There's a curse and a…" She held up her hand, cutting off his diatribe.

_You're scaring your son, Emma._

"Not now," she growled down at Tenka. She pulled out a smart phone from her coat pocket, which she'd still been wearing all this time, and dialed a number from memory, planning on destroying the phone after this call. Once the line connected, she screamed—in Japanese—at the phone, "_Why the __HELL_ _is my son sitting across from me, teme? How did an __American_ _website; whosyourmomma dot org, get a hold of my information so he can track me to my __CURRENT ADDRESS__?! You promised me that he would disappear and __**NO ONE**_ _would ever find him or knew that he existed! Explain this, teme, or I will come for you and END you!_"

She listened attentively as the timid voice on the other end tried to offer up an explanation. In the end, she decided to hang up before she had to listen to any more lies—didn't even need to see the slimy weasel of a rat to know that he was—and dialed another number from memory. This one went to voicemail, and she merely gave the name of the person she'd called previously, three addresses, and a price in Euros. The money would be automatically withdrawn upon completion of the contract. Once that bit of dirty business was taken care of, she took out the battery and the SIM card, crushing the latter between thumb and forefinger, before tossing the phone up in the air over the counter, and drawing her sword and destroying the device with a single stroke.

Henry stared in open mouthed awe. This was _definitely_ the Savior, he realized then and there.

"Uh, we should, probably get, uh, going," he suggested, having trouble swallowing.

Putting away her weapon, she looked over at him and asked, "Where?"

"Back home," he answered, before realizing that wasn't enough information and quickly added, "Storybrooke, Maine. I… I need your help."

Calming down, and seeing that he truly was her son… as well as _his_… with how quickly he was overcoming his fear of her, she sat down at the counter and with a considerable bit more warmth from before, she said, "What do you need help with? I have a limited skill set, so if you're needing help with your homework, sorry kid, you're plum out of luck. Now if you've got monsters under your bed, that's a whole other ball of wax."

_You shouldn't joke about things like that, you know._

"Shut up Tenka," she laughed, bringing her arm forward so that Henry could see the armband talking.

"Whoa, what… what is that?"

_Hmph. *I* am a Madougu, a device that aids Makai Knights in their battles against Horrors. Why are you being so free with classified information, Emma? I know you're good with memory spells, but even they have limits._

"Memory spells?" Henry repeated, suddenly nervous. "You can do magic? But you're also a knight? What kind of knight? Do you slay dragons and save princesses?"

"No to the princesses, dragons are peaceful unless provoked, I hunt demons called Horrors, and if it helps you to think of it as such, yes, I can do magic," she answered him, before directing to her bicep, "As for why I'm not bothering with hiding anything, he's my son. Family is the universal exception to the rules. Plus he's ten, who is he going to tell that will believe him?"

"Can I be a knight?" Henry asked, eyes bright.

"No."

_No._

That they both answered together and with such conviction snapped Henry back to reality. She said she hunted demons. Nothing in his book ever said anything about demons, and the closest had been the Imp that made deals with everyone, but he'd never been called a demon.

"OK, but, will you help me?" he decided to broach the subject of being a knight later. After the curse was lifted and the final battle finished perhaps.

"You still haven't told me with what," Emma commented, cutting her birthday cupcake in half, giving him the other while quickly devouring the first for herself.

Seeing that she was actually more than what he'd expected, and was already a knight, Henry saw no reason to hide the whole truth from her. "My home town is under a curse," he said as he pulled the book out of his backpack. "Every story in this book really happened. Pinnochio, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen. They're all real. Here, see? The Evil Queen cast a curse that took away the Happy Endings and sent all the people of the Enchanted Forest to a world without magic. _Our_ world. Or rather, this world. Everyone, except you. See?" he pointed out the pictures and passages in the book.

_Hm, this would explain a lot._

"What, that I came through a… Oh," Emma stopped responding to Tenka as she came to the image of the wardrobe she'd been 'placed' into by her father. "Yes, I suppose it does. All right, kid, what kind of curse are we talking about here?"

"None of them remember who they are," he answered.

"Amnesia?" she asked, being quite serious.

"No, they… it's hard to explain. They have names and identities, but they're not the right ones. Jiminy Cricket is my therapist, his name is Archie Hopper. My teacher at school is really Snow White, but her name is Mary Margaret Blanchard and she's way too timid for how Snow White is supposed to be. And my mom is the Evil Queen."

Emma nodded, sorting through her knowledge of such curses, taking into account the fact that apparently it transported an entire population across realms and created a town where there used to be none. "Alternate identities then. Coupled with barriers to keep strangers out, keep the townspeople in, and to avoid outside detection. Can you show me where this town is on a map?"

Surprised at the straight-forward belief he was receiving after months of disbelief from both Archie, his mom and Miss Blanchard, Henry was all too eager to help. They pulled up out an atlas of the Northeastern United States, and Henry pointed out the general area along the Maine coast where Storybrooke was located. Emma considered and calculated that it was still within her 'district' though only barely. Everything within two hours travel from the Watchdog space was part of the Northeastern District. The exceptions being Manhattan, which actually hosted a team of three Makai Knights and dozens of Makai Priests, while New York state fell under the Eastern District's domain. The point was, she could go to this Storybrooke without having to inform anyone that she was leaving the district or get any extra permissions or anything.

"All right," she decided. "Eat whatever you want out of the fridge. It's going to go bad otherwise. I'm going to go pack some things for the trip. And rent a car. Is there a car rental place in Storybrooke where I can return vehicles? Or any place nearby?"

"Uh, I actually had to hitchhike to the nearest town to get on a bus here to Boston," he sheepishly admitted. "And it was over three miles of walking past the town border before I saw anybody _to_ hitchhike with."

"So, that would be a no," Emma sighed, and instead called for a car service.

Two and a half hours later, Emma and Henry were dropped off at the center of town, when it became clear that he really did not want to go home, she just had the driver drop them off in front of the broken clock tower and sent the car back to Boston. Henry had already asked if she was rich, to which she replied, knights don't care about money, only the mission. It was true enough, and thankfully Tenka was bound to silence when in strange company, which Henry had already proved that he was not, but the driver had not been in the know.

Now dressed as she normally did when not on the hunt; in tight fitting denim pants, heavy boots that were comfortable to run or walk in, and a tight wrap-around white tunic beneath her ever-present armored red coat, Emma shouldered the bottomless shoulder pack that contained all her worldly possessions, as well as Henry's backpack on the other shoulder. Seeing and identifying more than possibly even Henry suspected she would see, Emma looked up and down the street before asking, "OK kid, how 'bout an address?"

"I…" Henry almost retorted with a smart remark, but quickly thought better of it. "Please don't take me back there! You don't know what it's like! She's the Evil Queen!"

Frowning to herself, and considering the possibility of something more… sinister going on, Emma weighed her options. While she was doing that, she noticed that they'd been standing on the curb for more than three minutes now, and the clock hadn't so much as twitched. "What's with the clock?" she asked.

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here," he answered.

"Excuse me?" she said, adding the information to her growing list of this curse's effects.

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. When she sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here. And now they're trapped," he explained.

"Crossing realms, spontaneous manifestation, alternate identities, multipurpose and multi-target barriers, _and_ a stasis field? Kid, I think you've been understating just how powerful this curse is," she grumbled. "Tenka, how are things here? Are we looking at an infestation here, or just a honeypot?"

_I love your spy terms for this job. That's the strange thing though. Outside of the town border, I could sense nothing here, not even the humans or animals in the area. It is a very effective barrier. Since crossing the border, I find that I cannot sense anything outside of it, as though my senses are bouncing back at me as though with a mirror._

"See, a mirror!" Henry exclaimed. "Mirrors are the Evil Queen's thing!"

"Got it kid. Tenka?" Emma held her arm forward to look at the talking wolfshead.

_There are no Horrors in this entire town. There are no _inga _portals in this entire town. Though there is _inga_, as there always is wherever there are humans, it is not able to come together to bring forth Horrors. The barriers here, and I suspect even the stasis that is in place, actually keep out all Netherworld influences. You can summon your Armor, but honestly there would never be a need. There are no Horrors here and there can never be Horrors here._

"Are you serious?" Emma gasped, looking at the quiet little town with new eyes.

"What does that mean, Emma?" Henry asked.

"It means, that this cursed town may be the most important discovery humanity has yet come across, or may ever come across," she said with awe in her voice. "A place where Horrors can't reach, can't come, cannot even appear? Not even Kantai has such protections!"

"What's 'can-tie'?" he asked.

"Kantai," Emma answered automatically. "It's the village where I was raised. The… hometown of the Makai Knights and Makai Priests. It is the most protected, and at the same time the most assaulted place on Earth. When it comes to Horrors that is. Sorry kid, but I have to talk to this Evil Queen. If she can teach me just the Barrier spell she used on this town…"

"But, it's all part of the curse, isn't it?" he pointed out.

"That… is a lesson for later, kid," she trailed off as she noticed someone approaching. She knew after their time together to trust Tenka's senses, but it was the dead of night in a town that could be the next set for Mayberry. At least she hadn't drawn her sword.

A tall man with curly red hair and glasses leading a dalmatian by leash walked up, saying as soon as he spotted them, "Henry! What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine, Archie," Henry answered with a smile, petting the dog.

"Who's this?" Archie gestured to the intimidating woman standing next to his patient.

Emma just smiled pleasantly at him, but kept her peace for the moment, instead analyzing one of these 'cursed people' up close and personal. Henry, on the other hand, saw no reason to lie or withhold anything and replied straight away, "She's my mom, Archie."

"Oh… I see," the psychiatrist said with new understanding.

Seeing an opportunity to gain information that Henry had proved reluctant to give, she asked him, "You wouldn't by any chance happen to know where Henry lives, would you?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure, just uh, right up on Mifflin Street; the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block," Archie pointed in the general direction along the road.

Eyebrow raised in Henry's direction, she repeated, "The _Mayor's_ house?" He wouldn't meet her eye.

"Uh, maybe?"

"Hey," Archie knelt down so he and the boy were eye-to-eye. "Where were you today, Henry, because you missed our session. When I called your… the Mayor, she was really upset."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip," Henry lied. Emma rolled her eyes. Kid could not lie.

"Henry, what'd I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything," Archie admonished his young charge.

"Giving into ones selfish nature is the dark side, doc, not lying in general," Emma quickly corrected him. "If you are protecting a secret or your own life, then sometimes lying is necessary. Lying because you don't want to admit you put yourself in potential danger for the selfish pursuit of accomplishing a task that others would prevent you from undertaking… is neither," she said to Henry. "From what I can see here, while you may be unhappy with your life, you have not been in immediate danger and at no point during our journey did I indicate that you coming to get me was a secret that you could not share."

Henry opened his mouth to protest, but she caught his eye and he remembered just in time that she had actually told him that some things _were_ secret, but their relationship and him coming to get her hadn't been part of that secret. He closed his mouth and ducked his head, before turning to Archie and apologizing. "I'm sorry, Archie. You're right."

"That's OK, Henry," he smiled. "Just so long as you remember the lesson for the future and live by it." Standing up, he looked between Emma and Henry for a moment before deciding that he needed to get on about his business and leave them with theirs. "Well, listen, uh, have a good night, and uh, you be good, Henry."

Once he'd walked away, Emma started her and Henry down the road toward the Mayor's house. "So, that was Jiminy Cricket? Emphasis on cricket?"

"The curse transformed him. And, uh, actually according to the book he wasn't always a cricket. The Blue Fairy turned him into that when he made a wish, for penance after hurting a young boy's parents. Geppetto's parents, actually," Henry explained, falling into step beside her.

"The curse actually reversed the magic that initially transformed him?" she inquired. He nodded.

They walked for two blocks before coming to Mifflin Street, the comfortable silence occasionally broken by questions from the Knight or the boy in turn. Now close to her son's home, Emma decided now was the point at which to start planning strategy.

"I'll need to judge for myself how much this Mayor may or may not know about the Curse and the town. For something so powerful, the possibility exists that it may have affected her as much as it did everyone else, whether through mistake or by design. I've met people that actually prefer the oblivion of a fresh start and false memories to the truth of their past. But I need her in a receptive mood, so no temper tantrums, and at no point are you to call her the Evil Queen, do you understand me?"

"Why? She is!" he argued.

"But there is a chance that _she_ doesn't know that," Emma pointed out. "What if you were actually the reincarnation of Hitler? Or the Anti-Christ? Would you want to be reminded of it by the people closest to you at every turn? Especially if you had no memory or reason to believe that you _were_?"

Frowning at the twist in logic, he shrugged, neither admitting nor denying the possibility she was right.

"For right now, until I know for sure, I need her to believe that I'm on 'her' side, which is to say that I don't believe in curses or magic or the possibility of fairy tales being real. She needs to think I'm an ordinary woman that gave you up for a closed adoption for the usual reasons."

"Usual reasons?" he repeated, confused.

"Homeless, drug addict, convict in prison, paid for it, y'know, the usual reasons," she shrugged.

"What was the actual reason?" he asked softly.

Emma missed a step, stumbling for a bit before catching herself. For all those that know exactly what a Makai Knight is and can do, this was more telling about her emotional state than if she'd fainted on the spot. Taking a deep breath, she slowed their pace and tried to explain her reasons as best she could.

"I keep talking about them like you should know exactly what they are, but I know that you don't. And I will be forever grateful to your Mom for that fact. I could use all the words in any language you'd like to hear it in, but all of them together cannot properly describe what Horrors are. What they can do. What it means to fight them. I had only been a Knight for a short while when I first met your father. He never knew what I did. He thought I was a thief, same as him. He was… a spot of normalcy in the chaos my life had become since gaining my armor, my title as a knight. Then, one night, I saved him from a Horror. He thought I was just acting jealous. He never knew how close to death he'd come. I left town for a different area after that, never even said goodbye. I found out I was pregnant with you shortly after. I… I hid your existence from the Makai Order. Part of why Makai Knights don't have to worry about money is that Makai Priests have long since perfected the arts of alchemy. Common elements like gold, diamond, other jewels are easy compared to the more valued elements such as Soul Metal. I may not be as powerful as the average Priest, but I still know the basics. During my pregnancy, I amassed a fortune daily, to the point that I am now obscenely rich. I did that and maintain it for the sole purpose of keeping you safe, away from the Makai Order, away from Horrors… away from harm."

She stopped them just outside the hedge leading up to his house, wiping away the tears and hiding the signs that she'd even been crying. "I chose this life for myself, Henry. You don't deserve to follow me into it. You deserve a normal life, a chance at what I never knew I was giving up. I wanted you to have your best chance. That is why I gave you up. That is why I continue to protect you to this day, and why I will protect you until the day that I die."

"Shouldn't," Henry's voice cracked a little, but he soldiered on, "shouldn't that be my decision?"

"When you come of age, yeah," she laughed a little. "But by then, you'll be too old for training."

"That's not fair!" he protested, perhaps a little too loudly.

She sighed and pulled him close. "It may not be fair, but believe me kid, it is so much better than the alternative. Let me try and put this as simply as I can so you'll understand." She knelt and looked him in the eye, bringing him close enough their foreheads touched. "I'm going to die, Henry."

He gasped and though he'd only *known* her for a few hours, the mere thought brought fresh tears to his eyes. She didn't let him go though, and refused to let him get a word in until she was done.

"I am going to be killed by a Horror. Probably in the most painful and excruciating way that it can, and it will torture me without end if it is able to do so. And between now and then, I will face monsters and sights and events that would break a person's spirit from just the knowledge of such things. I do my job knowing this, accepting it, and with the full understanding of what it means. So please understand that when I say I am protecting you, that means I'm not just protecting you from the Horrors, but I'm also protecting you from the pain of knowing one day I won't come back."

"No," he cried.

"Yes," she said, holding him tighter. "But that is the future. And you heard Tenka; there are no Horrors here, there can be no Horrors here. So as long as I am here, I'm off the clock. So no worries, all right? Let tomorrow take care of tomorrow."

"All-all right," he hiccuped, drying his tears.

"Good boy," she kissed his forehead. "Now, let's go meet the Evil Queen and get some answers. Remember, no taunting her or aggravating her, OK? Just go straight up to your room. If you have to, give her the silent treatment, but try to pretend like everything is normal."

"OK," he nodded, sniffling a little bit, but soon back to normal.

"Here we go," she said and they turned the corner and started the walk up to the front door.

Before they were halfway up the walk, the door was opened in a rush and a pretty brunette in a tight gray dress and designer heels came running out, yelling, "Henry? Henry!" she reached the young boy and immediately embraced him with a loving hug. "Are you OK? Where have you been? What happened?"

She looked between the blond woman in a red coat and her son, confusion and concern the primary emotions shining through her expression. Henry spared a brief glance at Emma, before taking a chance and answering as honestly as he could, "I found my... mom, OK? Sorry to have worried you!" Then he rushed past her into the house.

Emma winced and put a practiced look of uncomfortable embarrassment on her face. That last line had been said with a bit too much anger and not enough sincerity, but at least he hadn't thrown it in her face that he was trying to replace her or anything.

Meanwhile, Regina Mills was standing to her feet, a look of hurt and utter perplexity crossing her face as she looked at the blond woman across from her with a new light. "You're... Henry's birth mother?" she said.

"Hi," she said, giving a bit of a shrug.

"I'll just," the man wearing the sheriff's badge standing behind the Mayor said uncomfortably, "go check on the lad, make sure he's all right." He then left and went inside the house.

Visibly struggling to pull herself together, Regina put on a smile and offered to the interloper, "How would you like a taste of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

"Please and thank you," Emma nodded her head with a self-depreciating grin.

A few minutes later, after introductions were made, they were inside and Regina brought out a couple glasses to the dining room, where she kept an ice bucket on hand next to the aforementioned apple cider.

"Do you know how he found me?" Emma offered as a conversation starter.

"No idea," Regina shook her head, loading the glasses with ice cubes before pouring a healthy amount of cider into each glass. "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed. I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact."

"You were told right," she confirmed, shifting 'nervously' from one foot to the other. It was different, acting emotional with her real emotions, instead of hiding or masking them as she'd been trained to do for all of her adult life.

"And the father?" the brunette questioned.

"There was one."

"Do I need to be worried about him?"

"Nope, doesn't even know."

"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss Swan?" Regina asked, handing the blond her glass before taking a sip of her own.

"I won't lie to you," Emma said, accepting the drink, "I'm concerned that he not only found me, he managed to knock on my front door without anyone around here knowing where he'd gone."

Regina's eyebrows lifted and fell, acknowledging the point and took a longer pull from her glass.

"Madam Mayor," the sheriff called as he started his way down the stairs, "You can relax. Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's just fine."

"Thank you, Sheriff," Regina offered the man a brief smile. He nodded in reply and left out the front.

"I'm sorry he dragged you out of your life," she said, leading them into the sitting room, "I really don't know what's gotten into him."

"Kid's having a rough time," the blond offered with a shrug. "It happens."

"You have to understand, ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky. You have a job I assume?" she inquired.

"You could say so," she nodded, putting down her drink after a brief sip. It was actually pretty good.

"Imagine having another one on top of it," she said. "That's being a single mom. So I pushed for order. Am I strict? I suppose, but I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me 'evil', do you?"

Emma was never so glad that she had perfect control over her expressions and emotional outlooks, at least to the point that the less observant would see only what she wanted them to see of herself. If she didn't, she'd probably be squinting her eyes and her face would be scrunched up into a look of intense suspicion, instead of the innocent 'why is she asking _me_ that?' look that she was actually displaying. Thus far in the conversation, everything this woman had said to her, that wasn't a question to see what her own motives were, was perfectly calculated and definitely rehearsed to make her seem like the 'perfect' adoptive parent to any birth parent that came sniffing around. From years dealing with demons that could possess and often pretended to be 'perfectly ordinary' human beings, her instincts when it came to detecting false tales were sharper than ever.

Time to play her first card, see what came up.

"I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairy tale thing," Emma said as she reached for her glass, keeping her eyes locked onto the mother of her child.

"What fairy tale thing?" she asked, her face now frozen in the last expression she wore.

Wow, she was good, but could still be surprised it would seem.

Smiling now, like it was a big joke, Emma said, "You know, his book? How he thinks everyone is a cartoon character from it? Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

With each word, every muscle in the brunette woman's face was forcefully relaxed, giving her a cold, indifferent look, though nothing like Emma's 'expressionless' look. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Controlling her look so that it now read 'Uh oh, we're in trouble!', she swallowed the drink she'd just taken in an audible gulp and replied, "Of course, it's not any of my business. But, uh, back to the heart of the matter. I'm not about to step in and fight for custody or anything like that. Henry's you're kid, you've done the best you can raising him, and he's healthy, safe, and while nobody can be happy all the time, he's not a psychopath or emo or anything, so I think you've done a great job with him."

"Thank you, Miss Swan," the brunette gave her a thousand watt smile, as practiced and rehearsed as her speech earlier. "That means a great deal coming from—"

"So how the hell did he leave the city, walk three miles outside the town border, hitchhike to the next town over to buy a bus ticket to Boston?" Emma snapped, now openly glaring with only a very tiny fraction of the true anger she felt for the breach in her son's security. She slammed the glass down on the wooden coffee table between them for good measure, pleased to see how she'd made the dark haired woman jump.

"Miss Swan, I assure you—" she tried to defend herself, but Emma wasn't quite ready for her to twist her way out of the corner she'd been backed into just yet.

"You asked if I had a job," she interrupted, turning her nose up at the woman slightly, to make it look like she was smelling for something to find odorous. "I replied, you could say so. You see, I don't really get paid for what I do, it's more of a calling. And not everyone is fit for it. I think you understand what I'm saying here, that my line of... work, is dangerous. You are, understanding that, aren't you?" She picked the glass back up and took a small sip, eyes never leaving her verbal opponent, not even blinking.

"Uh, y-yes, I think I am," Regina said, quickly reevaluating what she'd previously assumed about this woman, Henry's birth mother.

"Let's leave it a vague notion for the moment," Emma said, putting her glass back down. "Because I'm not here to threaten you, Ms. Mills. I meant what I said about how you've done a great job raising Henry so far. But today, you screwed the pooch something awful. I don't care what you've done before, I don't care about how great a job you've been doing alongside being the mayor of this cursed little 'burg." She really liked the way the woman flinched at the word 'cursed' and tried to cover it up by looking down like she was ashamed. "All I care about, Ms. Mills, is finding out what the fucking hell happened _today_."

"I... I'm not sure, but I, I can..." Regina tried to rally herself, but Emma wouldn't let her.

"Let me share something real quick, so that you can know exactly how much of a clusterfuck this is," she snapped. "The apartment that Henry found me in? Where he knocked on my door, _less than a minute_ after I walked through it from coming home _from work_," she let those words hang in the air for a second, "I've lived in that apartment for less than two months. I've spent a grand total of _maybe_ fifty hours there, total. I haven't even slept there every night I've lived there. So now that you have all the clues to understanding just how catastrophic this SNAFU is, it is your turn to talk, Madam Mayor." She sat back, taking her drink with her and crossed her legs—like a man—and waited to see what the Evil Queen would say in her defense.

"I, you, I..." Regina tried to think of something to say or do to turn this around for her, but the facts that Emma had pointed out kept circling back through her head. "I..." Henry had gotten a hold of some book that had given him an inkling of an idea of the truth, "You..." This inkling of an idea had taken root so firmly that he'd actually planned out a way of leaving town, and making his way to another—_by hitchhiking!—_town to get on a bus to Boston! "He..." Then there was the fact that he had a specific address and time to be at in order to meet and convince this woman to drive him all the way back home, "I..." And along with the facts were the fears! What if he'd gone to the wrong address? What if she hadn't been there when he arrived? What if he'd actually tried waiting for her? And worst of all, what if he'd tried to follow her while she was... working?

"I'm gonna be sick," was all she had time to say before lurching for the waste basket and actually heaving part of her dinner back up from the stress of those thoughts running through her mind.

"That is but a small fraction of how I feel about the situation," Emma calmly retorted once the mayor had stopped throwing up. "And that was just in the first two minutes of my meeting him. It'll get worse, trust me on that much."

"How dare you," the Evil Queen growled out from where she was hunched over the mess she'd made. "How dare you come into my home and accuse me of..."

Emma was in her face and had her literally backed into a corner before another word could be said. They glared at one another, anger, rage, and fear shooting back and forth between their hard stares. Anger at one another and themselves, rage at the situation, fear for Henry on Emma's side, and fear of Emma on Regina's side. After a few seconds, Emma backed off, shaking her head with pity.

"I'm going to take a few minutes to cool off," she announced. "I suggest you take the same to clean yourself up, and have some valid answers for me when I get back. If my son is not as safe here as he was yesterday, I will find someplace where he can be safe. Without something like this ever happening again."

She left the room and made her way back over to the dining room. From there, she found the door to the kitchen easily enough and took advantage of her privacy, bringing her bicep forward, she looked down at the wolfshead armband and asked Tenka, "Well? What do you think?"

_I think that your acting was a bit over the top, but hers was surprisingly impressive. I think you fooled her though with that last bit. I'm no mind reader, but it is clear that she thinks you're some kind of assassin or spook or something very shady. She might even think you're a prostitute given her ultimate reaction._

"I was going for secret agent, but whatever keeps her off balance," Emma shrugged. "So, what can you tell me about her? I mean, obviously she's not a Horror, but..."

_That's just the thing though. I have never encountered a human with so much _inga _before!_

"You say that about most of the criminals I come across in my street fights," she reminded the Madougu.

_In those cases, I always stipulate, that I have yet to encounter. To compare, if she were to step outside of the town's barrier, she would attract Horrors to the same degree one showered in a Horror's blood would, _just _from her stains of _inga_. Whether this is a result of casting the curse, or past sins, it is impossible to say without more information. Since first sensing her, I've been checking the town. Only one other has as much _inga _staining as this woman, but I hesitate to call him human. I would confuse him for a Horror if not for my keen senses and past experience with Horrors._

"Great," Emma sighed. "Do you think that if I break this curse like Henry wants me to, the barrier will come down? Will I be condemning these refugees to the terror the rest of the world faces? Do I even have that right?"

_You may not have much of a choice. The book called the child of Snow White, the Savior. In the passage where Snow White learns of the Savior, the one to save them from the Queen's curse, she gave the child's name as Emma. Before you were ever a Makai Knight, you were this town's Savior, predestined to break the Curse and restore the Happy Endings. According to the book._

"Not helping," she grumbled down at the smirking wolfshead. "Fine. I'll think about it. Now, is she hiding who she is, or does she genuinely not remember?" Rather than answer, the piece of silver and gold jewelry made a closed-mouth sound for 'I don't know'.

"Lot of help you are," she grumbled and slowly made her way back to the sitting room, even trying to find a 'long way' about getting there.

When she finally stepped back into the room, she found Regina sitting in the chair facing the door, her arms perched precisely along the armrests and her legs crossed primly, the complete picture making her look very queen-like-on-a-throne. Arching a single eyebrow at the image, Emma decided to complete the image and strode forward, letting her coat swish a little bit, before standing right in front of the regal looking woman in an At Ease posture, which was the closest she could come up with to looking like a knight errant without bringing out her sword.

Looking down at the woman, they each took a moment to appreciate the power play being worked here.

"Well," she said, pausing before continuing, as though certain words were supposed to be fit into the empty space of silence, "have you composed yourself? Do you have a satisfactory explanation as to how this occurred and how to prevent it from happening again?"

Regina just smirked up at her, setting her shoulders as though getting comfortable, before snapping out in a demeaning tone, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Surprised, Emma took half a step back, hands settled on her hips, head cocked, inviting her to continue.

"You cannot just come into my home and accuse me of negligence after having been absent for over ten years, no matter your excuses," she gave a brief derisive laugh. "And to be honest, they're sounding more and more ridiculous by the second. Whatever your," her eyes shot up and down the blond's frame, judging, "occupation, my dear, it is no excuse and no reason for the accusations you have levied at me. Whats more, I'm not even confident that you _are_ Henry's birth mother. Oh, I'm sure that you did give a child up for adoption ten years ago, I'm just not convinced that Henry was that child. I strongly suggest that you leave and do not bother us again, or I will have you arrested and a restraining order placed against you."

Emma raised an eyebrow, acknowledging the move and how perfect it was for the situation. It was even designed to put Emma back on the defensive, to make her try and make her own case for being Henry's mother and leading credence to the suggestion that she was not and was just trying to get her foot in the door for some long con. She nodded once, to indicate her comprehension and appreciation of the complexity of the move. Then she took the game to the next level. Time to find out once and for all if this was the Evil Queen or not.

"The other possibility," she grinned darkly down at the brunette, "is that I'm actually one of those imaginary threats and I've been working a con on your son, without you knowing about it, so he'll 'bring me home' with him, putting me in a room, alone, with the mayor of someplace in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh please," Regina scoffed.

"You don't have a weapon," Emma pointed out. "If you did have a gun, and I certainly gave you enough time to get one, you would keep it close at hand. Same for a can of mace or defense baton. You sent the sheriff away, after letting me into your home and telling him I am not a threat. The nearest phone is on the other side of this room, behind me, and your cell phone is still in your purse, in the kitchen. And for all you know, I'm carrying a god damned rocket launcher under this coat. Or just a knife that I swiped from the kitchen."

She was definitely starting to get nervous, but her composure hadn't broken yet. Time to push a few more buttons.

"Now see here, Ms. Swan, if that is indeed your real name," Regina got to her feet, nose to nose with the blond knight, "I do not take kindly to threats! If what you were insinuating were the least bit true, what I can do to you legally is the least of your concerns. And do not think me helpless or some victim. You have no idea what I'm capable of, and if you so much as think of trying anything against me or my son, I will destroy you!"

Hm, close, but not quite enough.

"Lady," Emma moved her face that much closer, forcing Regina to either hold and risk physical contact, or pull her head back, an indication of fear. "We've only just met. You've made a lot of assumptions about me. Not all of them were accurate. So allow me to assure you, that you have no idea what I am capable of. Because if you did, I guarantee you that you would not have let me get this close to you."

"Again with the threats, dear? Smoke and mirrors. Take it from someone who knows," she sneered.

Emma smirked again, not moving from their close proximity, wanting to see if she could actually make this person flinch first. "An observation of fact, based upon personal experience," she said. "After all, would you let a suicide bomber anywhere near a place with crowds? Or a known poisoner in a kitchen?"

There was a subtle flinch, more a shifting of the eyes. Almost like she feared it had been a reference about herself, rather than any kind of threat that she'd actually poisoned the food in the kitchen herself during their 'time out'. Interesting.

"However, you're right," Emma shrugged and turned her back on the mayor. "I don't know what you're capable of. Until a little under an hour ago, I didn't even know your name, let alone that you were the mayor of Storybrooke, Maine. I didn't even know your address, as Henry wouldn't give it to me, had to get it off the kid's therapist, who we met when we were dropped off down town. So, point to you Madam Mayor. Legally, and probably less than legally, you could make my life quite difficult and put up all kinds of road blocks. Here, in Storybrooke."

Emma moved her arms from her hips to across the chest, mimicking what Regina had done with her own arms and posture.

"But outside your little... kingdom?" she paid close attention to all of the woman's expressions. "In a city like Boston, where there are as many places to hide and disappear as there are that can easily be found? Dealing with people, criminals or otherwise, that have never even heard of this cozy little town?"

She said nothing, though she did fidget a little at the term kingdom and her fingers curled up into claws at the veiled threats being implied. Time for the final push. If she didn't get what she wanted by then, she'd finally drop all pretenses.

"Your son was missing for the better part of the day and you had _no clue_ about where he was until he walked up to your front door with a strange woman _he_ claimed is his birth mother," the blond said, arms still crossed. "What is to stop him from doing it again, but heading off for Miami instead of Boston? Or Los Angeles? Or Paris, France!? And what if you're right and I'm not his birth mother? What's to stop him from trying again, and again, and again until he gets it right? Answer me!"

"I don't have to answer to you! I'm the—" she snarled, finally losing it, but still managed to keep from saying anything too revealing. "I'm his mother! I'll take care of my son my own way, and not that it is any of your business, but he will be suitably punished to ensure that this sort of behavior does not continue! Now, I believe Ms. Swan that you have overstayed your welcome. Please leave, before I test your earlier veiled threats, and call the police to have you escorted off my property. And perhaps handed over to Federal custody for attempted kidnapping and threats against me and my son."

It hadn't been said outright, and she'd covered it up with enough bluster that anyone less observant would be too blinded by rage and fear to catch onto it, but it had been enough. The game was over. She had what she needed.

"I'll let myself out," Emma said, turning on her heel, her coat flaring out behind her, and marched out to the front door. She let it slam shut behind her, not caring or noticing if Regina, the Evil Queen of the Enchanted Forest followed her or not. Once the door was shut, she jumped up to the roof of the mansion, and made herself comfortable.

_Did you have fun arguing with the Evil Queen?_

"I did actually," Emma smiled down at Tenka. "She's a smart one. I'll have to make sure that she dies a natural death. I think that if she actually became a Horror, its words alone would be enough to kill a thousand Makai Knights. She's definitely the queen though, and her identity wasn't changed like the others. She may have had some knowledge put in her head, but she's still who she was before casting the Curse."

_So how do you want to handle this?_

"How do you think?" she replied with a smirk, tucking her hands behind her head as she lay back against the mansion's chimney and looked up at the stars.

_Mendokusai._

Emma just smirked, saying nothing.

_End Part 1_


	2. Curse

Curse:

Dawn came and the rising sun found the blond Makai Knight seated in the same position on the Mills' roof that she'd been in the whole night through. Just as the morning rays reached her closed eyes, Emma awoke and moved for the first time in hours. She stood, casually walked to the edge of the roof without any sign of being stiff from her hours in one position, and then just as casually stepped off the slanted platform and fell to the front yard. She walked up to the front door and judged her timing based on the noises she heard from inside the house, before pressing the doorbell. From how quickly the door was opened, she guessed that the bell had rung right as Regina was walking past the front door, and from her appearance, she'd only just woken up and had been on her way to the kitchen to make coffee.

"You!" the sleepy-eyed brunette in silk pajamas and robe snarled.

"Me!" Emma said cheerfully with a bright smile, by all appearances fully refreshed.

"I thought you'd left, Ms. Swan," the mayor said, keeping her hand on the door, in preparation for slamming it in the blond's face.

"I didn't," she shrugged noncommittally.

"What are you doing here?" Regina finally asked her, unable to fathom any reason for this woman to ring her bell at the crack of dawn.

"You got coffee?" Emma asked, rather than answer the question.

"There's a diner downtown, called Granny's, they have great coffee I hear," she said, tightening her grip on the door.

"I'm here to continue our conversation from last night," Emma smiled. "And I think having it over coffee would be more constructive than alcohol. Also, for this part of the conversation, I can guarantee that you do not want it to be had in public."

Regina opened her mouth to retort, but Emma stopped her cold by finishing her statement with two words.

"Your Majesty."

Regina's mouth snapped shut with an actually audible click.

"May I come in, please?" Emma asked.

Regina almost refused her. Every instinct in her body, everything she'd ever learned, known, or experienced, every part of her that made her who and what she was, all of it was telling her to refuse the woman access to her home, and to bring everything she had to bear against the interloper. An extra part, one might call it fear or survival instinct, added that she should take Henry and run as fast and as far as possible. Across realms if she had to. Against all of that though, she simply stepped aside, holding the door open and allowing the birth mother of her son into their home once again.

"Thank you," Emma nodded, and then entered.

"May I take your coat?" Regina asked once the knight was inside, since they were being polite and all.

"Yes, thank you," the blond then flipped her coat off her shoulders, making it look smoother and fluid than the queen had ever seen somebody remove a garment before. What was most interesting was that somehow the silver and gold armband that had been on her right bicep, on the outside of the coat, was still on her right bicep. There'd been no indication of her taking it off and putting it back on in the maneuver.

After hanging the red leather coat, which was heavier than it looked, on the coat rack by the door, Regina turned back and froze at the new sight before her.

"What the hell is that?!" she snapped, pointing.

Looking down at what she was pointing, Emma just smiled and answered honestly, "My sword. Don't worry, it stays with me. I'll start the coffee."

"I will not have weapons brought into my home!" Regina cried, following after her.

"The sword will remain sheathed, and don't worry, Henry wouldn't even be able to pick it up, let alone draw it to hurt himself," she assured the disheveled woman as she started preparing the coffee maker.

"Who… what are you, Ms. Swan?" Regina demanded, too tired and caffeine deprived to be any more subtle about it.

"My name is Emma Swan," she confirmed once the coffee was filling the pot, "And I am Henry's birth mother. I confirmed that before going anywhere with him. As for what I am…" she eyed the woman, silently judging for several moments before finally answering, "I am a Makai Knight of the Makai Order. The order is an ancient organization whose sole purpose is to protect humanity from demons that are known in every language as Horrors."

"You're delusional!" Regina exclaimed, her eyes wide with fright.

"The day I was found by the Order was apparently the day of my birth," Emma told her. "Apparently I appeared out of an exploding tree. The oldest tree in the Makai Forest as a matter of fact. Exactly twenty-eight years ago, yesterday." By now the coffee was ready, so Emma occupied her hands by getting down cups and filling them with the dark liquid. "How do you take your coffee?"

"Uh, black," Regina answered, briefly at a loss. After taking her first sip of the steaming drink, allowing the caffeine to revitalize her, she finally spoke. "So you're saying you were born out of a tree, and that you're a magic knight for a secret organization that hunts… demons? I think I understated it when I called you delusional."

Emma smirked, before producing an ofuda, a rectangular slip of paper with "Chinese" symbols (actually Makai characters forming a spell) on it and flicked it onto the counter in front of the queen. It immediately lit up with a brilliant golden glow and a three dimensional light construct of the house appeared before the woman's eyes. It was incredibly detailed, down to the furniture and pictures and people inside it. As a testament of her resolve, she managed to keep her hand on her coffee mug rather than drop or spill it, but she was no less stunned for a multitude of reasons.

"That's impossible!" she whispered, her voice hoarse from shock.

"Just a minor protection," Emma shrugged, pulling an ornate 'paint' brush from behind her back, pointing it at the light construct, the white bristled tips lighting up with the same golden glow before the model house was surrounded by a transparent bubble of energy. Once the process was complete, the light construct faded and the ofuda was absorbed into the house, appearing to melt away.

"How did you do that? There's not supposed to be magic here!" Regina shouted.

"Mom?" a tired voice came from the kitchen entrance.

Both women turned at the voice and saw Henry, still in his pajamas, standing there, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Once he had, his whole face lit up and he exclaimed, "Emma!"

"Hey kid," the blond nodded, putting away her Makai Brush. She didn't use it that often, but she still tried my make sure she stayed in practice. "Just getting to know your mom. You drink coffee yet?"

"No!" he actually recoiled at the prospect.

"Well, while your mom and I discuss this whole curse business, why don't you help with breakfast. You get the drinks and I'll get the eggs?" she suggested.

"Excuse me!" Regina loudly protested. Both of them looked at her. "I fix Henry's breakfast every day, so why don't you sit down and explain yourself, Ms. Swan, while I prepare our meal. Henry, if you could get the dishes… for our guest as well?"

"Uh, sure, Mom?" he was very confused, but decided to go with it anyway.

"Well, Ms. Swan?" Regina shot her a pointed look.

Emma raised her hands in mock surrender and moved over to the other side of the counter. Seeing that her host was now dealing with a hot stove and cooking, she held off on the more… startling topics of conversation she wanted to deal with. For now.

"So it's true?" Henry asked, once he had the plates out. "You are the Evil Queen, and everybody is a fairy tale character!" He was smiling brightly, finally being vindicated for his belief.

Regina visibly hesitated, about to argue to the opposite, but Emma saw her hesitation and would not stand for anything less than the truth in this circumstance.

"Yes, Henry," Emma confirmed, daring the other woman to challenge her in this moment. "It's true. Also, she never forgot. Near as I can tell, she is who she's always been. No Alternate Identity gifted to her by the Curse, just her. Probably had some information that was put in her head so she could integrate, but she was never cursed like everyone else is. Got my proof last night. Hence, our conversation this morning, Your Majesty," she smirked and took a sip of her coffee.

Sighing, Regina knew she had no hope of backtracking things now. That... display of magic changed things more radically than if the Curse had already been broken. The only direction to move now was forward.

"Yes," she sighed, keeping most of her attention on the sausage and eggs. "It's true."

"So..." Henry started to say, a thousand questions on the tip of his tongue.

"Kid," Emma interrupted, silencing him before he could get started. "Not now. Maybe later, if your mom is feeling up to it. For right now, while breakfast is being fixed, why don't you go get ready for the day?"

"Uh..." he looked back and forth between his two 'moms', the emotionally distant one that had raised him was quiet and focusing only on the food in front of her, while the other was staring at the first with a laser intensity that actually kinda scared him. But he wasn't scared of her, more that... and this surprised him as he realized it... that he was scared _for_ his mom, Regina. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave, but a quick look from his dark-haired mother and a reassuring smile from her was enough to convince him. "OK," he said and left.

"You raised him well," Emma said once he'd left the room.

"I know I did," Regina shot back over her shoulder. "What is your excuse for giving him up, I wonder?"

"I gave Henry up because if I had let my Order get even a hint of his existence, well three things would have happened. One, I would no longer be allowed to be a Knight. I would have been confined to Kantai for the duration of my pregnancy, and then forced into being a Priestess, or have my memories wiped and permitted to wander the world. Two, if I stayed with the Order, Henry would have been raised in Kantai with me, and three years ago he would have been offered a choice; to become a Makai Priest, or a Makai Knight. And three, unless he chose to be a Priest, I never would have seen him again save for annual holidays, or after he attained a title and knighthood."

"So instead you chose to send him to Maine and haven't seen him for the past ten years, and wouldn't have ever seen him again if he hadn't gone to find you," the dark-haired woman remarked while scrambling the eggs in the pan. "Great idea."

"I've already explained this to Henry, but what I hunt, what we protect humanity from? Just as an example, the worst thing you've ever done, including cursing this town? The weakest of all Horrors would already have your body count beat, and been far more creative in how they corrupted, killed, or tortured. Your title may be the Evil Queen, but I've seen true evil, your Majesty, and in my eyes, you're still an innocent."

"Oh really?" Regina scoffed, daring to meet the knight's eyes.

"Really," Emma confirmed, meeting her stare with the truth of what she'd seen.

Regina was the first to look away. Her excuse would be that she was in the middle of cooking and didn't want to burn the eggs. The truth was… far more complex.

"So why are you here?" she finally asked, dishing out portions to each of the plates. "Why come here in the first place, if your… calling is so important?"

"Because my son showed up on my doorstep," Emma said, accepting her and Henry's plates and taking them to the table where places had already been set up. Despite what was probably Henry's intentions, she put herself across from the two Mills. "After addressing the issue of how he found me in the first place, I listened to him. Apparently an enchanted book made its way into his hands and he's since become convinced that the stories in said book are the truth and this town is the result of a curse, cast by the Evil Queen, whom he is equally convinced is you, and that I am the savior prophesied in the book. And judging from your expressions and reactions when the topic came up, I've gotten all the confirmation that I needed."

It was at this point that Henry returned, freshly showered and dressed in his school uniform, minus the jacket and tie. They all sat down at the table to eat and resume the conversation where it had left off.

"So you really believe that fairy tale characters are real and that I've trapped them in a small town in Maine?" Regina asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she took a bite of eggs.

"Fairy tale character?" Emma shook her head. "No. Do I believe that in another realm, there are or were people with names like Snow White, Pinnochio, Jiminy Cricket, and titles like Prince Charming and the Evil Queen, who interacted with one another in similar situations to what is characterized in modern fairy tales? Then yes, yes I do. Same that I believe there are planets and stars in the sky instead of holes cut in a giant bowl that the gods put over the sky at night. I've never been to another realm before, but I know they exist. And it didn't hurt that the tree I mentioned I came out of? It looks identical to the 'wardrobe' depicted in Henry's book. The same wardrobe that, according to the story, I was sent through by my parents to escape your curse. That sort of thing is not a coincidence."

"All right," Regina said, putting her fork down. "Cards on the table then. What are you going to do about it?"

Emma smirked and laughed a little. "Would killing you actually end the curse?"

Henry looked up, eyes shooting nervously between the two women, wisely deciding to stay silent.

"No, it wouldn't," she said slowly and deliberately, one might say almost seductively.

"You're telling the truth," Emma shrugged. "So I'm not going to kill you. There would be no point. There probably is some way to reverse it, a self-destruct as it were, some means of letting you wipe the slate clean or cover your tracks after you leave. I'm not interested in that either. And I'm not about to take my only child with me where I go out every night to hunt demons, likely to never come home again."

Henry looked down again, trying to eat as quietly as he could.

"What are you interested in then, dear?" Regina asked.

"I'm interested in this curse of yours," Emma said.

"In breaking it, I assume?" she sighed, leaning away from the table.

"In taking advantage of it," the knight corrected her.

"What?!" both Mills exclaimed together.

"Ever had a murder here? Someone go missing? Crime problem?"

"No, we have a wonderful community, and a quiet…" Regina started to recite the spiel she'd long since memorized to keep questions about anything suspicious in town quiet.

"You have a static population," Emma interrupted her. "So you would definitely notice people missing or anything of that sort. Thing is, Horrors would view this as an all you can eat buffet. For twenty eight years, you've had no murders, no missing persons, and probably nothing more than a minor misdemeanor or traffic violation at worst. This is the safest place on the planet. And I am not exaggerating that in the least, Mayor Mills."

"Well, I can't take all the credit," she leaned forward again, hands folded across her lap.

"No, most of that goes into the barriers you've got in place. That is what I'm interested in," Emma said, folding her own hands. "Kantai is attacked by Horrors on a regular basis, and it is actively protected, but with 'magic' similar to what I displayed earlier, and by a contingent of knights and other protectors. Every major city on the planet, or where there is a significant population of humans, has no more than one Knight and an assortment of Priests protecting the area. I'm responsible for Boston."

She let the concept sink in for a bit before continuing.

"I am good at my job, but even the best of us needs help sometimes. With the kind of protections that you have on this place, we could pull Knights from Kantai and set up other safe zones, where Horrors could never infect the population or harm anyone within the borders. We might even be able to seal off the Netherworld for a time! That's why I need you to teach me whatever you can about this Curse and the Barriers you have on this town!"

"At what price?"

"I'm sure that I can negotiate…" Emma started to say, but Regina cut her off.

"You don't understand," the brunette looked up at her with a hard glare. "Magic always comes with a price. I don't know what is said in this book," she looked between Henry and Emma wildly before continuing, "but I'm fairly certain that it didn't mention the price of the curse, or you wouldn't be asking for it!"

"I don't want the curse," the blond shook her head. "We have no interest in traversing realms. I just need the part relating to the barriers. The part of the curse that keeps people out and the population in. And whatever it is that keeps the _inga_ from gathering into portals. I need to study it and then I'll come up with my own adaptation to get the same effect. Don't really need the alternate identity or stasis spell parts either."

"What are you?" Regina asked, shaking her head.

"I'm a Makai Knight," Emma shrugged and finished her breakfast.

Silent until now, watching the back and forth between his, his moms, Henry decided to get in his two cents while he could. "But what about the curse? You're meant to break it! You're supposed to bring back the Happy Endings!"

Emma barely managed to contain the laughter bubbling up her throat with a quiet snort. When she felt she could control herself once more, she replied, "Well, if I can do so without destroying the barriers that keep the Horrors out, I'll certainly do what I can, but what is this about happy endings?"

"Oh, don't get him started," Regina warned, too late.

"You know, the Happy Endings!" he exclaimed, waving his hands a bit. "Where the heroes find true love after facing incredible hardships and almost dying and losing each other several times, until finally they live happily ever after! Like with Snow White and her Prince Charming? And Cinderella and her Prince, or, or Pinnochio and Geppeto! Red Riding Hood and her Grandma being saved from the wolf! Hansel and Gretel making their way home to their father! The Happy Endings!"

"Happy endings?" Emma looked to Regina for a bit of understanding.

Frowning, the brunette shrugged and sighed. "Supposedly the point at which the 'heroes' attained their reward for facing whatever life lesson challenge and got to live the rest of their lives happily. Personally, I don't understand it either."

"So you kept them from dying in battle?" she asked, perplexed. At their confused looks, she replied, "The 'happiest' ending that a Makai Knight has to look forward to is dying in battle, ending a threat to humanity, saving lives, and protecting those precious to us. To be quite frank about it, I think once the alternate identities are removed, the people of this town should thank this woman. Not only has she extended their lives far past what they would have been, she's protected them from Horrors and death and the disappointment that some happy endings are not all they're cracked up to be."

"Somehow, dear, I don't think thanking me will be on anyone's to do lists," Regina remarked. "And unlike some people, Henry and I still have to prepare for the day. So if you will excuse me?"

"Of course," Emma nodded and stood to her feet. "I'll meet you at your office, to continue our conversation and discuss the price for the barriers around the town."

"You're serious about that?" Regina said, her tone flat.

"Yes," she answered simply and honestly.

"Then I'll see about clearing my calendar," the mayor said. "Henry, despite current events, it is not the weekend, and you will be going to school. Best get ready."

"Listen to your mom, kid," Emma backed up the order. "Best thing that you can do right now is make sure no one suspects anything is different with you, or with your mom. Before any curse is broken, I need to make sure that I won't be condemning these people to the potential death and terror of dealing with Horrors by bringing down the barriers. And if you're in school, I know where you are and that allows me to protect you that much easier."

"Right," Henry nodded and proceeded to go about getting ready for the day.

Watching him leave, Regina shot Emma a dark look before asking, "What exactly have you been discussing with my son, Ms. Swan?"

"See you at the office," Emma smirked at her and left.

A few minutes later, Emma was walking down main street, or what may as well have been called main street, where all the shops and stores and the diner were. There was also a pawn shop at the end just off from the main thoroughfare. Her senses, and Tenka, informed her that was where the other _inga_-infested human was. The one that probably should not even be considered human in the first place.

Emma avoided the place for now. She wanted to get the lay of the land a bit better before any further confrontations. The diner was an interesting place to start. Knowing that most everyone here were actually fairy tale characters, and though she'd been raised in the heart of southeast Asia, she was fully educated in the Western world and its popular culture, so she decided to do some scouting.

Right outside of Granny's, a woman in her early seventies, give or take 28 years, was placing the specials sign on the walk. Next to her was a young woman dressed in red, whose name tag identified her as Ruby. Just past that, in a hurried walk while she juggled papers in her arms, was a white skinned woman with short cropped jet black hair, dressed in woolen sweaters and a primly buttoned blouse. Something about that one was familiar, but from her skin and hair, she would guess that was Snow White. It helped that her papers and bag showed signs that she was a grade school teacher and Henry had already told her that his teacher was Snow White. She also spotted the therapist, out walking his dalmatian again, Jiminy Cricket, she reminded herself.

A few others stood out, but the majority was a mystery to her. Knowing that most people took a while to 'get ready', caring for their appearances and such, Emma decided to spend her time wisely until the Evil Queen, the mayor was at her office, where they could be assured of privacy. And what better place to observe people than the local watering hole, to turn a phrase.

Two hours later, she'd seen plenty and figured the mayor had to be in her office by now, so she left the diner, paying a decent tip to the interestingly dressed waitress, and made her way to town hall, which she'd gotten directions to during her time in the diner. Sneaking past the equally bored and nervous office workers, she made her way to the mayor's office and silently entered without alerting the sole occupant.

The woman mayor, now dressed in a tight fitting power suit, was staring outside the window down at an apple tree set just behind the building. Her arms were crossed over her midsection, and the look on her face could best be described as contemplative. Rather than wait for her to come out of whatever world she was in and notice her, Emma silently sat down in one of the chairs before the mayor's desk and then louder-than-strictly-necessary cleared her throat. Regina jumped and spun around, shocked to see the person she'd been contemplating sitting there like she'd just arrived for her appointment and actually been there for a while.

"How did you get in here?!" she shouted, turning her fear to anger out of habit.

"I walked in," Emma answered honestly.

"Who let you in here? My secretary? She is fired for this, idiot," Regina mumbled, turning toward her desk and shuffling papers that were already neat and organized. "What are you doing here, Miss Swan?"

"To continue our conversation," she answered, folding her hands in her lap. The way she said it, Regina could almost believe that she was straight up answering the question and not being sarcastic or 'smart', but the daughter of Cora Mills, the Queen of Hearts, wasn't that naïve.

"What is there to continue to discuss?" she deadpanned. "You're delusional, and I have nothing to offer you. It would, quite frankly, be in everyone's best interests if you just leave town and never return. I'll keep a tighter rein on Henry so he doesn't... wander off again."

"Do you really think that's all that happened?" Emma asked. "That he just... wandered off and found me by accident? He searched for me, Mayor Mills. He searched for me and _found me_. To put it in perspective, you know who the FBI, CIA and the like are, yes?"

"Of course," the mayor replied with a roll of her eyes. "We may be a small town, but we keep up to date with the larger world."

"If they were to start looking for me, for whatever reason, it would take them with all their millions of resources and thousands of agents more than a year to track me down. And even then, without boasting—in fact undermining my skills, they would never be able to track where I was or where I would be without first setting up some kind of ambush or sting operation. Henry... your son did not hire a private detective or security company or even a psychic medium to find me. _He_ found me."

"He could have just looked you up in the phone directory, Miss Swan," Regina pointed out, sitting down in her chair and interlacing her fingers before her on the desk.

Emma raised her eyebrows, silently asking, '_Really?_'

"Except you're not in any directory," the brunette answered her own question. "So what you're saying is that you and my son share a... a bond, which enables you to... find one another?"

Emma was briefly concerned, given that the woman looked like she would be physically ill just from saying the words, but she managed to get over it after the words were said.

"I'm saying that there are forces at work that are greater than a former queen made mayor, a young boy looking for family, and a Makai Knight can comprehend," the blond replied.

"You're talking about... destiny? Fate? Prophesy?" The 'sick' look was back, but tempered by her anger.

"All of the above," Emma shrugged.

After a lengthy, tense silence, the mayor finally asked again, "What do you want, Miss Swan? And don't bother with your excuses about negotiating for part of the Curse, part of your delusion, I'm sure. Just tell me the truth. You're here to take Henry away, aren't you?"

Emma shook her head to the negative. "He's safer here than quite literally anywhere else on the planet. You care for him, that much is obvious, and you've given him a good home. Perhaps not as much affection as he desires, but still a good home. When I leave, Henry will stay here. With you."

Regina blinked, surprised that it had been that easy. Or was it?

"What game are you playing at, Miss Swan? I'm warning you, my dear, do not underestimate me."

"If you're about to make some threat about destroying me, please don't bother," Emma sighed. "I face actual threats that can destroy me and a great many more people on a daily basis. A small town mayor where Horrors are no and can be no threat, has no hopes of destroying me, whatever your definition of the word."

"Oh really?" Regina smirked, like she'd suddenly found an Ace in her hand for a straight royal flush. "And what would you say to me _inviting_ these... horrors of yours, to town and introducing them to the population of my fair town?"

Without batting an eyelash, and a far better poker face than Regina held, not that she was bluffing, Emma responded, "Then I would kill you, the pawn shop owner, and anyone else in this little hamlet capable of performing such a threat. Followed by wiping the minds of everyone that ever knew you or them so that it will be as though you never existed. Henry will become an orphan with the most severe case of amnesia seen outside of trauma victims and he will remain safe in this place. Without you of course. And I will leave without doing anything about the curse, destiny be damned."

"You... you're serious?!" Regina leaned back and even backed away from the blond woman sitting across from her desk. "You threaten me...!"

"You threatened first, with something far worse than a handful of human lives," Emma interrupted her.

"You're insane," the mayor declared and reached for something in her desk. She never reached it.

Emma's sword was at her jugular, the brunette never even having seen her move. She knew from before that the self proclaimed knight carried a sword with her at all times, but she'd yet to see her use it. Given the expert and masterful way she wielded it now, Regina knew that whether she was a knight or not, whether she actually fought demons or not, she could use that sword to kill her as easily as Charming ever could have in the Enchanted Forest. Easier now, seeing as she didn't have magic to protect her anymore.

"I can see this is not getting us anywhere," Emma remarked, moving her blade in synch with the mayor's movements so as not to cut her prematurely. "And I'm not about to risk bringing the proof here, so I suppose we'll have to go to where the proof is."

_She's right, you are insane._

"What... what was that?" the Evil Queen asked, heavily conscious of the naked blade still at her throat.

"Go for whatever it was you were about to, or anything else, and I cut something off. Whether it is a lock of hair, a finger, or an arm will be up to you, and how much you want to test the 'delusional and insane' woman holding a sword to your neck. All right?"

"All right," Regina whispered, careful not to move her head too much.

The sword was removed just like that, so quickly that it may as well have been poofed out of existence as sheathed and put back into the woman's red coat. Rubbing her neck, which didn't have so much as a scratch, Regina backed away from the desk to the window, asking in a scared whisper, "What are you going to do?"

"You're going to call whoever you need to call and tell them that you're taking some time off. Just a few days. Is there anyone that you trust to take care of Henry in your absence?" Emma asked.

From the mayor's stubborn set of her jaw, she could read the answer in her face, and added, "I understand that under normal circumstances you would not trust anyone to take care of your son, but as I'm sure you've figured out by now, Madam Mayor Mills, these are not normal circumstances. Now answer the question. Is there anyone that you can trust to take care of Henry in your absence?"

Again with that 'sick' look. "Miss Blanchard, his teacher," she finally grated out.

"Make the calls," Emma said, arms crossed.

"Why?" she petulantly snapped.

"Because, Madam Mayor," Emma uncrossed her arms and leaned across the mayor's desk, resting on her closed fists, "I'm kidnapping you. And then I'm using you as bait. Just to show you what a Makai Knight does."

_One Day Later_:

"AAAAAYYYEEEEEE! AAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAHHHHH!" Regina was screaming.

She'd never screamed like this before. Then again, she'd never had a reason to scream like this before now. Quite frankly, she was surprised at her composure, all things considered.

A day ago, she'd been in her office, trying to figure out a way of dealing with the prophesied _Savior_, the one destined to break her curse. Then she showed up out of nowhere and after a lot of threats, most of which Regina feared the unreadable blond was more than just capable of going through with, and announced that she was kidnapping the mayor of Storybrooke.

From the moment the woman announced her presence in her office, the mayor had activated a recording device, the microphone to which was centralized around her desk.. Mostly she used it for dictating notes and outlining her plans so she could go over it all in detail later. From the time of her... ex-husband's death, she'd gotten into the habit of voicing her thoughts and plans aloud. The Genie in the Mirror had been a good listener and provided sound advice for bouncing ideas off of.

So when she'd gotten her adversary to admit, on record, to be willing to kill and kidnap people, she believed that she'd won, now having the leverage needed to make her problem go away for good. Then she'd pulled out what Regina had believed was the ace up the Savior's sleeve. She could use magic to wipe out memories. After that she'd gone 'all in' as it were and actually pulled her sword on the mayor in her office! Of course, she'd been going for the... well, the heart in her desk in order to summon the Sheriff to take care of this interloper once and for all, but the knight's sword had stopped her before that could happen.

After that, once she'd promised not to 'go for anything', Emma had sheathed her weapon and introduced her to Tenka, an obviously magical, talking armband on the blond woman's right bicep. She'd even elaborated that 'tenka' meant 'snow' in her native language. Regina had been less than impressed and a bit put off by the talking trinket, no matter how cool Henry thought it was.

Things happened very quickly after that, as Emma countered her at every move she tried to get away from the blond kidnapper or draw attention to her dilemma. Seeing that this was happening, she went ahead and called the school and left a message for Henry to go home with Miss Blanchard, and also spoke with the teacher, asking her to take care of her son. And then to add felony on top of felony, they stole the mayor's own car to facilitate said mayor's kidnapping.

Since Storybrooke's... creation, Regina had only gone beyond its borders a handful of times, with fingers left over. The first time to satisfy her curiosity, she'd gone to the nearest town and been thoroughly disenchanted with the world outside. All the times after that had been about Henry; to pick him up from the adoption agency, the time she'd almost given him up, but thankfully changed her mind at the last moment, and one time when he was six for a health scare, taking him to Boston to see a specialist. So Regina was not scared about leaving Storybrooke. After all she was the only one that safely could, except for Henry obviously.

What she was scared of was what this crazy knight planned on doing with her. All during the drive, that stupidly named piece of jewelry on her arm kept talking about how what Emma was doing was crazy. She ignored it, and Regina when she tried asking what was going to happen next, only ever receiving the vague reply, "You'll see."

They reached Boston by the afternoon, but instead of stopping by Emma's 'temporary' apartment, Emma parked the car in the sub-basement of a parking garage in the middle of the city. She then took the keys with her and left. Regina would have taken the chance to escape, except that she hadn't been allowed to bring any forms of identification with her, and her purse was tossed out the car window just before they'd crossed the town border. So the mayor had no means of convincing anyone in authority, police or otherwise, to help her escape this woman's clutches. And unfortunately, none of the skills she'd worked on over the past three decades included hot wiring a car. Given her options though, she refused to follow this deluded woman around like they were on some quest, so she stayed in the car.

Emma returned an hour later with food, which they both ate in the car. She was then informed, in a mostly sarcastic manner, that she had a hotel room ready, paid for overnight. Or she could sleep in the car.

Never one to give up creature comforts if she didn't absolutely have to, even if it meant the company was less than pleasant, she agreed to the terms and after their late lunch, was lead up to the hotel room, provided with 'overnight clothes' while her suit was dry cleaned, all at the knight's expense of course. The blond then left to 'run errands' and Regina was alone in the hotel room for the rest of the evening. She called Henry, to hear his voice mostly, though she gave the excuse it was just to tell him goodnight. Then she went to bed at her usual time, all the while plotting and trying to think of some way to turn things around.

She woke up about an hour ago now, in the parking garage, the car parked only a few spots from where she now stood. The reason she was here instead of there was made quite plain once she'd woken up.

"Glad you could join us, your Majesty," Emma's voice echoed in the garage.

"What...? Where...?" Regina shook her head briefly and quickly took in her surroundings. The blond was standing in front of her, with her back turned, sheathed sword in hand. Immediately around her was a glowing circle of light, forming a clear and distinct barrier in a diameter of eight feet around her. "What is this, Ms. Swan? I thought we would be sleeping in that lovely little hotel room you procured for us. Is this where you torture me into giving you whatever it is you want? Well, I'm sorry, but magic, my magic anyway, doesn't work in this land. There's nothing that I could do to show you how the, the, what you call the barriers work. So you're out of luck, my dear. How about we go back to the... am I wearing different clothes?"

"Yes," Emma answered, not bothering to look at her.

"How did you... never mind. I don't want to know," Regina shivered. Instead of the nightclothes she'd worn to bed, she was now in sweatpants, sneakers, and what felt like three layers of shirts under the jacket and sweater she'd been put into. "Can we go back to the room now? Or are we returning home prematurely?"

"Remember how I said I was going to show you proof?" she asked instead of answer.

"I vaguely recall you and that... horribly named trinket on your arm mentioning something about that, amidst all the barked instructions to aid in my own kidnapping. Why?"

"You weren't there for that discussion, but suffice it to say, you are stained with _inga_. It's a word that doesn't really translate, but at the same time every language has a synonym for it," Emma explained.

"Marvelous," Regina rolled her eyes, arms crossed. "Thanks for the language lesson. Can we move on with this? Please?"

"In the language we're using at present, English, the synonym would be; _sin_."

Finally, Emma turned and looked Regina in the eye. The brunette's jaw was set and she found much to her embarrassment that she could not hold the blond's gaze for very long.

Turning back around, Emma began to pace around the outside of Regina's circle. "Horrors come into being when humans come across a... a portal, for lack of a better term in English, comprised of _inga_ and their own _inga_, their own sin reacts, opening the portal for the Horror to come through. Horrors then possess the human, devouring their soul in the process, and taking the body for their own. They then go around feeding on other humans. Innocent, for the most part. Certainly not evil or weak as those they possessed. And by feeding, I mean exactly that. They cannibalize other humans, devouring them in a number of different ways, but the fact remains that a Horror's prey are humans."

"What does that have to do with me?" Regina asked, getting suddenly uncomfortable. There was also a sudden chill in the air, which hadn't been there moments before.

"Without going into too much... unnecessary detail, each Horror is a unique... evil. They each have a prey that they appreciate, that they hunt above all others. With two exceptions. These two exceptions, no matter how particular, how old, how skilled, how experienced the Horror is, they will abandon all reason, all instincts telling them otherwise, to hunt and take prey of these particular exceptions, no matter the risk."

"And I suppose you're going to tell me what those exceptions are?" Regina huffed, now looking around nervously. Something... something was out there. She almost blamed it on Ms. Swan's stories, but a trait she'd honed within herself, whenever she herself was in personal danger, was ringing like the blessed bells of the Vatican at mid-day prayers!

"The first is those showered in the blood of Horrors," Emma continued. "I hate to admit it, but accidents happen and sometimes civilians get in the way of knights performing their duties, and a Horror is just a demon possessed body, so blood still flows in its veins. Cursed blood. One hundred days after the blood is spilled on them, the human dies while experiencing a pain that is said to equal that of damnation itself. Before that day, they give off a scent that only Horrors can detect. It's like catnip to them."

There were figures moving in the shadows of the parking garage. Even Regina could see them by now. She was sure that Emma had seen them all along. At first, she feared that they were the demons her son's biological mother had been going on about, but some of them actually stepped into the light, if only briefly, showing that they were human. Until she recalled what she'd been saying about them possessing human bodies. Not that the Evil Queen actually believed any of that, but she was still afraid, because she had plenty of memories and experience of the evil humans could do all on their own, without the needed excuse of being possessed by soul-sucking demons.

"And? What was the other exception?" Regina asked.

"Humans stained with a level of _inga_ that rivals that which gave birth to them," Emma answered, stopping her pacing and putting herself between Regina and the—so far—lone figure to step out of the shadows.

"What... what does that mean?" she questioned, her throat suddenly dry.

"The more _inga_... the more _sin_ a human is stained with, is filled with, the more power a Horror can channel through the body. There have been legends, horror stories really, of humans so evil that multiple Horrors could possess them. Creating evils that required not just one Makai Knight, but _armies_ of Makai Knights and Priests alike to finally vanquish them back to the Netherworld. Always at great cost. So even Horrors that already have... hosts, will seek out such individuals and either try to get them turned into a Horror, or they'll abandon their current host in favor of a more... appreciated one."

"Let me guess which category I fall into," Regina grumbled.

She blinked and where there had been one figure in the distance next to an overhead light, there were now half a dozen, in practically every direction, all surrounding Regina, though the ones nearest to Emma were giving the blond some extra space. She let out a brief scream of fright from being startled, but quickly got herself under control. All seven of them, and she made sure to count this time, looked like ordinary people. Some were better dressed than others, one of them even looked like a homeless person! The one thing they had in common was something the Evil Queen was all too familiar with, however. They were looking at her like a slab of meat placed at the center of the table for all to gaze upon.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the one standing before Emma drawled out. He was a tall, reasonably handsome man in a business suit every bit as expensive, perhaps more so, as all of the mayor's clothes back home. Blond hair, blue eyes, white teeth, fashionably tanned skin, he was every woman's wet dream of what a male prostitute should look like. Regina honestly had no problem seeing this type of person as a demon looking to suck out her soul and devour her flesh and bones.

"A Makai Knight, setting such a... poorly imagined trap," Mr. Perfect said derisively, making Regina briefly wonder if these were all hired actors. "I'm almost insulted. If it weren't for such... unique bait setting the trap. Tell me, priestess, where is the Knight? Or is this your trap? Don't your kind usually travel in herds?"

The Horrors, if that's what they truly were Regina added silently, all laughed out loud at the joke. Emma wasn't laughing.

"Just me," she told them all, for the moment keeping her sword hidden by the folds of her coat. "After all, it is my job to hunt Horrors. I had a feeling that I'd missed some in recent weeks. Even the Watchdogs thought things were quiet. So I had to go out of town to get some quality bait."

"Hey!" Regina snapped.

"How long do you think that barrier will protect her?" he growled, stepping closer.

"She can step out any time she likes," Emma said with a shrug. "It is only to prevent Horrors from reaching her. Of course, if she does step outside of it, the protection is nullified and even if she were to step back inside it, she would no longer be protected by it."

"Good to know," he smiled with his perfectly white teeth, and then motioned to the other Horrors. They all launched themselves at Regina, jumping through the air like they'd been catapulted!

Moving faster than she'd ever thought a human could move at, even when aided by magic, Regina watched as Emma drew her sword and moved clockwise around the barrier, first blocking and then slashing or striking to knock the disguised Horrors away with strength enough to send them flying back, crashing into walls, pillars and cars alike. Mr. Perfect, however, instead of jumping, he just ran right at her, but by that point Emma had completed her circuit and was there to meet him, her straight blade meeting his suit-covered arms. And yet, the suit was not cut and Regina could have sworn she'd seen sparks go flying at the point of impact.

Unfortunately, none of the Horrors seemed to be dissuaded by this. In fact, the one Emma was currently locked in battle against was actually grinning at her! Emma's expression, however could best be described as stoic, one of focused concentration with no real strain at all.

With a roar, the suit-wearing Horror threw off her sword and lashed out, intending on throwing the knight through the barrier protecting the Evil Queen. He was disappointed in the end, as she blocked him with her sword yet again, deflecting his wild attack away and leaving his defenses open for her to slash at his unprotected torso. Rather than blood, a black substance, which seemed to form strange, evil symbols as it flew through the air to disappear into nothing came from the wound she delivered. The Horror stumbled back, injured, but quickly regenerating.

By this time the others too had recovered, but rather than swarm or attack the knight together, they all hung back, watching the confrontation between one of their own and one of those that profess to hunt them and all their kind down. One though, grew impatient. Shedding its human disguise, it revealed its true form, which wasn't that different from any other _inga_ Horror, not having had much chance to evolve or feed to grow stronger. It was ink black, all over, covered in either a slime or mucus. Its eyes were milky white, its face that of a black skull with fangs that were more serpent than anything human-like, while on top of its head were two spider-like 'horns' that moved like the mandibles of a spider's mouth. On its back were a pair of broken 'wings' that were creepy and ugly more than anything else. All of a sudden, it rushed Regina in the protective circle while Emma was busy with the stronger Horror.

Turning at the sound, Regina screamed, and kept screaming when the Horror flew right at her... only to crash right into the barrier, lighting it up with power. The Horror only had enough time to scream once, a terrible sound that drowned out even Regina's yells of terror before it lit up with green flames all across its decrepit body and then exploding out and away from the barrier protecting the terrified mayor. The display didn't so much as distract Emma, as she'd expected it to happen before she'd even set up the situation. The Horrors, however inhuman they were, still knew fear, and backed away from the barrier, giving it a suspicious look, but keeping most of their attention on Emma and her fight.

Speaking of whom, she was fully aware of what had just transpired and exactly how outnumbered she was. Apparently she'd overestimated her abilities in how thoroughly she'd gone through the Horrors of the city, because there were more here and coming than she'd thought had been left when she went with Henry to Storybrooke. She'd be having words with that layabout Watchdog after this was over.

First things first, though.

Moving on the attack, Emma lead with her sword, focusing the majority of her attention on the immediate threat, but staying aware of the other threats in the area. The Horror knew enough that it couldn't block her sword, so rather than deflecting or stopping it as it did with her first strike, it did what it could to duck and dodge her attacks. As powerful and superhumanly fast as it was though, the first female Makai Knight ever was much faster. First, only a few cuts on the extremities, but she also managed quite a number of slashes that caused real damage to the unholy beast. Unfortunately, it was not totally on the defensive, striking back where it could, seeking to turn the tables at every opportunity. Emma had the creature's measure now though, and made sure not to leave herself open for any meaningful attack, ignoring or deflecting the punches and kicks that would only bruise at worst.

Another of the Horrors grew impatient, and when it thought the Knight was sufficiently distracted, it charged straight at her back, leaping through the air, discarding its human disguise of a chef still in kitchen attire for its enhanced form of something that looked like a bunch of peppers that grew slime mold in a vaguely humanoid shape. Sensing the attack, Emma took advantage of the opportunity, slashing down to drive the Mr. Perfect Horror away and then jumping up nearly to the ceiling and lashing out with a triple-kick combo against the flying pepper Horror, thereby knocking it all the way back to the barrier surrounding the _still screaming_ Mayor. The Horror caught aflame as the one before it had and exploded, but by that point Emma was back fighting Mr. Perfect.

_The Barrier won't be able to take many more hits like that. You only expected three Horrors, not a dozen or more. There are more on their way. Perhaps this was not such a good idea._

Emma ignored the Madougu, but silently admitted to herself that the enchanted piece of silver and gold was probably right. She needed an edge, and her armor wasn't going to cut it if there were indeed more Horrors on the way. Times like these made her wish she'd taken on a partner when one was offered to her. Makai Knights worked alone, but Makai Priests often were called upon to support Knights as partners. At the very least one could be in the barrier with Regina, reinforcing it or putting up new ones when the first fell.

Time to thin the herd, she decided, adjusting the grip in her sword.

Just as he was lunging in to hit her head with a punch, he went stumbling as she was no longer where he'd expected her to be. She'd jumped straight back, flying inches from the ground until she'd reached the barrier. Only it didn't stop her, allowing her to pass without so much as a flicker. Standing in the circle now, between Regina and the monsters that wanted to consume her, Emma brought her sword back so that it ran flat along her right bicep. Adjusting it so that the edge was caught in Tenka's teeth, she drew the blade out in a sweeping arc, sparks and green flames igniting along its length, while at the same time she stepped out of the barrier and managed to catch the nearest Horror in the arc, cutting into its flesh and igniting it with Madou flames, before stepping back into the barrier and repeating the action twice more in rapid succession, catching the Horrors off guard before they could retreat themselves.

Which just left Mr. Perfect and one other, a Nordic blond woman dressed as a secretary or personal assistant. Oddly fitting, her standing off to his side, as though they were partners or something. After seeing the three Horrors be destroyed almost simultaneously like that, a brief lull came upon the battle. He laughed and even raised his hands and started clapping, the woman at his side smiling sarcastically and clapping a bit more 'politely', which would be the polite way of saying bitchy.

"Please," Regina begged, still on the ground, tears smearing her make-up and running down her face. "Please, don't leave me. Get me out of here. I... I'll give you anything, but please, don't let... don't let those monsters near me! Please!"

Emma looked down at the broken woman at her feet, and saw past all the masks, all the lies, all the bravado and big talk of destroying her and how she was the Evil Queen. She saw the young woman, so full of hope, so full of dreams, so full of love, until monsters as bad as the Horrors around them sunk their claws into her and corrupted her into the _inga _stained villain before her. She saw a human being that wanted to live and have a chance to love again.

Regina almost gasped aloud when the blond knight looked down at her, not with pity or disgust or even angry pride. No, what she saw was absolute confidence and faith and hope, as she said, "Don't worry. I'll protect you. Stay here for now. I'll take you home after this."

"OK," she numbly nodded her head, a stunned feeling of awe sweeping through her as Emma stepped outside of the barrier once more.

As she crossed the circle, Emma quickly reinforced the barrier, her Makai Brush in her free hand, pumping the power of the barrier back to its peak. It briefly lit up, a dome of pure energy, makai characters floating throughout it, as the Madou flames marked the boundary where it met the cement of the floor.

"Well done, well done indeed," Mr. Perfect mocked. "It is true what they say, the female of the species is deadlier than the male. The infamous _Loba_, I presume? You're better than what they say about you."

"Considering I don't exactly leave survivors from my hunts," Emma smirked, getting back into her stance, blade flat against her right bicep, "I doubt there would be much to say that wasn't jokes about me being a woman. I'm not one to brag, but if you're holding anything back, Horror, now would be the time to bring them out. Otherwise I'll get bored and go home."

"Ha ha ha!" he laughed, clapping again. "Cocky. I think I like that. Tell me, _Loba_, how good are you, really? I've heard tales of a Makai Knight in Japan, the... ah yes, Golden Knight _Garo_. He's supposed to be the best the Makai Knights have to offer, isn't he? Should the title of _Garo_ now go to you, perhaps?"

"I know of whom you speak," Emma acknowledged, keeping her senses open, anticipating an ambush any second now. "I am not Garo, and he is indeed the strongest Knight. I certainly wouldn't want to fight him. But right now, I promise you that I can defeat even him in this moment."

The Horror stopped laughing, the Secretary at his side now scowling.

"And why is that?" he asked, his voice harsh.

"Because right now I am protecting that woman, and I will not allow any harm to come to her," she vowed, drawing the flat of her blade along her armband, the metal-on-metal scraping suddenly loud in the parking garage. Sword pointed straight at the two Horrors, she concluded, "I am _Loba_, the Lady Knight! And I will destroy you and all Horrors like you!"

Squinting in anger, the prefect man's face twisted horribly as he dropped his human disguise and snarled, "So be it."

For a moment, a brief flicker of time, the human form was covered in a _skintight_ covering of solid gold, as though instead of a man a statue of Adonis had been cast from the precious metal. Then the flicker passed and the statue was distorted from the perfect image of man into something far more... demonic. Other than the milky white eyes, spider-like horns, fangs and claws, once it had finished transforming it looked like a Japanese Samurai in solid gold armor. Only where the demonic face for a samurai would've been a mask to frighten enemies, it was the Horror's actual face. At the same time, the Secretary changed, where her male counterpart was gold, she was silver, and looked like some kind of Valkyrie out of Norse legends, minus the beautiful face and beautiful blond hair, adding in the face of Grendel's mother and three spiked tails growing out of the back of her head so that the skull looked more like a giant scorpion than anything else.

The preliminaries concluded, Emma nodded in turn and raised her sword above her head, keeping it parallel to the ground. Spinning it along her wrist, she cut open the glowing white halo with a crashing sound. As the heavenly light shone down all around her, her armor fell into place and they all swore they could hear the snarling growl of a wolf echoing throughout the area as the light faded and the Makai Knight _Loba_ stood ready to do battle.

Regina stared, in shock by this point, amazed at what she was witnessing. She'd never seen nor even heard of anything like this happening. Rumpelstiltskin, her mother, the damned fairies, not even Maleficent had ever hinted at something like this being possible. Whether it be the demons—Horrors—or the magic armor that she had just seen summoned and donned with a flick of a sword, she couldn't quite be certain, but it was plain to see that the Evil Queen was very much out of her depth and had little clue as to how to deal with all of it. So, for now, she watched, and prayed that Emma would protect her.

The clock began ticking. Loba wasted no time, moving to meet the two Horrors, crescent-hilt sword at the ready, moving with a fluidity that was supernatural for an armored human, the strength and speed at which she moved almost secondary to that sight.

The Horrors played it smart, immediately splitting up and attacking the Lady Knight from multiple angles, the silver one going high and from the sides, the gold one coming at her straight on. She lashed out with her sword, sparks flying as it bounced off the gold Horror's armored skin, before jumping and twisting in mid-air, kicking the silver Horror away as she deflected its attack to the side. Blocking additional strikes from those tails that made up its 'hair' with the flat of her blade, she reoriented herself to land on her feet and slashed them away, sparks flying from the points of impact. The Horror retracted, surprised to see that its tails were what had taken the damage rather than the Knight's sword.

In the brief reprieve, Tenka took the opportunity to inform her of exactly what her opponents were.

_The one that took the male host is _Guldonis_, and the silver one is _Grenhild_. They both are known to feed off of greed and are able to command lesser Horrors, but thankfully not to the degree of the Apostle Horrors. Their armored skin is tough enough that you won't be able to end this with one attack like usual._

Loba nodded her head, saying nothing for the moment.

Guldonis roared and resumed its straightforward attack, each of its talons like swords of their own. Loba stayed on the defensive, deflecting and back stepping from the swipes, punches, kicks, and thrusts. Grenhild, on the other hand, stayed back and struck from a distance, using the three tails on its head to move and strike like a scorpion's sting. Dodging those were a bit more difficult, and a few times they did get through, scratching her armor or knocking her back. Guldonis managed to land a few hits, but she made sure it wouldn't be anything too hard that could prove to be lethal at some point.

The Horrors both knew that time was against the knight. They could stay in their enhanced states all the time, except it would make drawing in food more difficult, but once a Makai Knight donned their armor, they only had a little over a minute to finish whatever the fight was and drop it once more. All they had to do was draw the fight out as long as possible.

Loba saw their plan from the start, but had one of her own in the making. So the next time that Grenhild launched her spiked tails at her, she timed it so that right as Guldonis was charging her again she charged right back, forcing the tails to go that little bit further, before falling to the ground and sliding between the Horror's legs, all in the blink of an eye. The tails did not go around or down between Guldonis's legs, instead they hit and penetrated the Horror's thighs, lower torso, and left shoulder, eliciting a wild beastly scream as it was injured by its own.

Taking full advantage while she could, Loba turned and landed several unguarded blows to the Horror. The last of which was aimed at the neck, but it had enough sense to jump forward, narrowly dodging the blade, but having the unfortunate consequence on drawing Grenhild in closer as well. Which was the whole intention behind the maneuver in the first place.

Wasting no time, she jumped back into the fray, not letting either of them keep their distance anymore, lashing out with her crescent hilt blade to bite deep into their corrupted flesh. They retaliated, striking back with everything they had, falling to baser instincts, no plan or reasoning just animal fighting. While they became more wild and nothing but a flurry of blows that no one could ever hope to block them all, it still made the fight easier for the Knight, as an enraged beast is more predictable than a calm one stalking you out of sight. Maneuvering the both of them got tricky, but soon enough she had them on either side of her, both poised to strike with everything they had, exactly what she'd been waiting for.

Leaping up into the air at the precise moment they attacked, Loba jumped over the Horrors, avoiding the attacks and allowing them to go through where she'd just been. Grenhild's tails all struck Guldonis through the chest, piercing all the way through. Guldonis's rapid strike punches all landed on Grenhild, the last of which actually went through the other Horror's chest and out the back. Both cried out in agony, as the only thing that could hurt a Horror as badly as a Makai Knight's weapon was the flesh of another Horror.

Nodding again, Loba pulled out her Madou Lighter and ran it along the length of her sword, catching it aflame with the green light of the Madou Flames. Pulling the blade back so it ran along her right bicep, the flames quickly spread across the Soul Metal Armor, powering her up and readying the _Blazing Armament_ attack. Charging forward as though she were rocket propelled, and from a certain point of view that is exactly what she was, the Knight landed a single blow as she blazed past the restrained Horrors, the Madou Flames spreading and concentrating their purifying energies onto the damned beasts.

Coming to a halt mere feet from the edge of the barrier protecting the Mayor of Storybrooke, sword still poised to strike, but now void of the green flames that had covered her moments before, the white she-wolf stood to her feet and carefully sheathed her sword. At the same moment, the two Horrors exploded with violent force. A few car alarms went off and a number of windows were cracked, though thankfully none were close enough to have shattered. Once the explosion had passed, in a reverse of how the armor was placed, minus cutting open the halo overhead, the white and gold armor of _Loba_ was removed with the echoing sound of a wolf's snarl, making it sound more like a roar, and a flash of light.

In the silence that followed, as even the car alarms went quiet once the dust had settled, Regina slowly stood to her feet, careful of where the barrier was and not willing to risk the danger of going without its protection just yet. She looked around and was quite frankly amazed at how little destruction came from so much violence. She briefly allowed her mind to wonder whether she could ever have believed the Knight about everything if she'd not been shown this. It also drove home exactly what it was that she had as a bargaining chip to use against these... these Makai Knights if the biological mother of her son was telling the truth about what the Curse had done for them. Protecting them from these... Horrors, that is.

"Is it over?" she weakly asked, still scared.

"No," Emma replied, sweating a bit. "But for right now, it is. Sunrise is only a half hour away. Horrors only operate at night."

"Are they like, uh, like vampires then? Sunlight hurts them?" she asked.

"Makes them sleepy and they can't change out of their human forms, which makes them almost impossible to track, but also they don't feed or possess anyone during the day either," she replied.

"So... we just have to stay here another half hour?" Regina asked.

"We could, but like I said, it's over for tonight. Tenka?" Emma looked down at her armband.

_The Horrors that were gathering have all fled. Most of them have already gone under ground and are beyond my ability to detect. The rest are quickly following those. Not to worry, Madam Mayor, I will be able to sense any Horrors or any _inga _portals that come near you. If you'd like, I can place a small part of myself with you so that I, and by proxy, Emma will always know if you are in danger._

"Thank you, but no," she immediately declined, rubbing her sweaty palms dry on her pants leg. "I trust we're returning to Storybrooke as soon as possible? And you have said that these... Horrors cannot enter the town? Then I will trust in my safety there. Thank you for the offer though."

"Well then," Emma sighed, putting her sword away in her red coat and pulling out her Makai Brush, "we should probably get going then." She pointed the brush at the barrier, the bristles glowing with golden energy. The barrier lit up again, and then was deconstructed within moments.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, panicked at the thought of losing her protection.

"Don't worry," the blond assured her. "Let's go pack up out stuff, and then we'll check out and be on the road just as the sun rises. We'll be back in Storybrooke long before sunset. Probably just in time for lunch."

"Don't leave me!" she cried out, hurrying to catch up with the Knight as they walked back into the hotel.

_Back In Storybrooke:_

They crossed the town border minutes after eight o'clock. It was a quiet drive, as neither really had anything to say. Rather than go home, Regina parked in the downtown parking lot, where she did every day on her way into work, allowing her to walk through the center of the town in order to see all the people she'd cursed going about their same routines. Except for now of course, where she did it just so she could get back to her office where her strongest liquors were kept. She didn't want that sort of thing at the house where Henry might accidentally get into it.

As they exited the car and began walking down the street toward City Hall, Regina was stopped in her tracks by a very distinctive sound. The sound of the clock tower ticking away the minutes, and chiming the half hour. Surprised at the brunette's sudden stop, Emma walked on past, stopping to look back only once she was across the street.

At the same time, coming from the other direction, Henry's therapist, who Emma had met her first night in town, looked up and said to the mayor, "Hey, how about that? Guess those rusty old innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?"

"Yes," the startled woman responded, "how about that, indeed."

"Problem?" Emma asked once the mayor had caught up with her.

"No, of course not," she immediately closed up and began walking with renewed purpose toward her office. She could feel the blond's disbelieving gaze on her the whole way there.

Secured behind the mayor's locked doors, Emma stayed back and watched as Regina went straight for a cabinet off to the right and pulled out a full decanter and glasses. "Care for a drink, my lady knight?" she asked rather sarcastically.

"You can keep calling my Miss Swan until we know each other better," Emma replied. "And no thank you. I think it is better if at least one of us keeps a clear head for this conversation."

Regina smiled and stumbled over to her desk. Picking up one of the freshly picked apples that she always kept in a fruit bowl on the edge of said desk, she offered that instead, saying, "Did you know the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl... And to this day I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers."

"Thanks," Emma took the fruit, and then stepped closer to the woman offering it to her. "And don't think I don't recognize the metaphor. I may not know exactly what or how it happened, but the story of Snow White is pretty famous. Particularly the," she took a small bite of the apple and swallowed it, "the bit with the poisoned apple."

"Cursed apple," Regina offhandedly corrected, stepping back and taking a gulp of her alcohol before sitting down in her chair behind her desk.

Emma put the bitten apple in the center of the desk and then sat down across from the mayor. "The barrier," she said. "How does it work? What is required to make it work? And if the Curse is lifted, will it stop working?"

"The Curse is already lifting," Regina said.

"Excuse me?" Emma snapped.

"The clock," she gestured with her glass before taking another gulp. "For twenty-eight years, to the day, it has not moved. Not so much as clicked over by a single second. And all of a sudden, it is keeping perfect time. Because of you."

"Me?" Emma said, considering the facts as she knew them. With a grimace, she suddenly understood. "This is because of the savior thing, isn't it? I'm the only one who can break the curse, aren't I?"

Regina finished off her alcohol as reply.

"So, time was frozen, and now time isn't frozen. I would imagine that the alternate identities are the last aspects of the curse that would be broken with the curse itself. According to the book, the prophecy said that I would show up and then the final battle would begin. It never said anything about what happens _after_ the curse was broken. So whether you all get sucked back to the Enchanted Forest, or you're stuck here, just with the option of cursed or not cursed, it doesn't say. I'm hoping that you can at least answer that question."

"I don't know," Regina finally admitted. "The Curse was supposed to destroy everything. As far as I know, the Enchanted Forest is now an airless void that would destroy all that traveled there. And yes, the happy endings, as Henry calls them, or alternate identities as you call them, they'll stay as they are until the curse is fully broken. By True Love's Kiss, no less."

Emma raised an eyebrow at that.

"Then we might have a problem," she said.

"Oh?" the Evil Queen leaned back in her chair, legs crossed. "And what would that be, my dear?"

"I'm not in love with anyone," Emma shrugged. "Still, the curse is responding to my presence, and the fact that I came back. Is there a way to weaken it first, perhaps?"

"Bring back the happy endings without people remembering who they were, you mean?"

"OK, there is that, I suppose. Back to our negotiations, however?"

Regina sighed and turned her chair around so she didn't have to face the blond knight, thinking over her options and what she might be able to do to put this... situation to her advantage. The only factor that she kept coming back to was the need to stall for time. She needed to plot, to plan, to figure out her next move and the next ten after that! She'd already been shown exactly how out of her depth she was with this... this _Savior_! She did not care for a repeat performance.

Turning back around, she said to the Makai Knight, "Come to my home, tomorrow evening. We'll have dinner. I'll have my list of demands, and you can have your list of demands, and what you can offer in way of protection for myself, my... _our_ son, and the citizens of this community. We'll table the... the Curse talk until then. All right?"

"OK," Emma nodded. "I'll be around town, if you, y'know, need me or anything. Madam Mayor Mills."

The blond knight dipped her head in a parting bow and then as Regina turned her head to scoff, by the time she looked again, the Makai Knight had vanished without a trace. And the door was still locked and as far as she could tell hadn't even been opened. Neither had the windows, and there were no other exits from her office! Scowling, the mayor just got up and got herself another drink.

Dinner promised to be interesting, if nothing else.

_End Part 2_


	3. Boundary

Boundary:

It was a new day in Storybrooke, ME. That was significant for more than the mere fact the sun had risen.

For those that were sensitive to such things, it was as obvious a change as a hot breeze blowing through town in the dead of winter. Something very significant had changed in the quiet little seaside town, hidden away in the forest. It wasn't just the clock tower fixing itself either. There was a liveliness to the town, an energy that had previously been absent from everything and everyone since before anyone could remember. It was, quite literally, a new day.

As they walked alongside each other toward Town Hall, and the mayor's office where the Mayor worked, Regina and Emma discussed this new change to the town.

"The curse is weakening," the brunette official snapped at the casually dressed knight. "And you said it yourself, Miss Swan, part of what kept this place so safe for over two decades, is a static population and the stasis spell. Both of which you attributed to being reasons for why those... those... those..."

"Horrors," Emma supplied, with a teasing grin.

Glaring, Regina finished her statement, "... those monsters, have never been here. And why they _couldn't_ come here in the future. If the curse breaks, so does whatever protection you're hoping to mass produce from this situation. It is more than just the barriers in place. I've already gone over it, as much as I can. What is currently in place is not enough by itself to keep even one of those... _things_ from coming here or crossing the town line. It is more than just that. It has to be the curse itself!" she insisted.

"OK," Emma nodded, keeping her voice modulated so only Regina would hear her. "Say I believe you." She ignored the former Evil Queen's angry glare and continued without interruption. "Then just by my being here, I'm further weakening the curse, and eventually it will break, or become weak enough that Horrors could find the town and cross the border. It may have already reached that point, in which case, even if I leave, would you be able to strengthen it back to where it was?"

Regina opened her mouth to answer, and then her brain caught up and her jaw snapped shut as she considered her options. Unfortunately, they were all coming up short, and after having seen exactly what a Horror was and what they were capable of, she was terrified of the thought of being vulnerable to them all of a sudden. Reluctantly, she grit her teeth and asked semi-politely, "And, Miss Swan? What would you suggest?"

"The only way to outright break the curse is with True Loves Kiss, yes?" the blond questioned.

"To outright break it, yes," Regina admitted, but quickly amended, "but it has been known to happen for spells and curses to be weakened to the point of uselessness before. Is that what you're hoping will happen here?"

"OK, in those cases, what was involved in weakening them?" Emma asked.

They had reached Town Hall by now, and the conversation needed to be put on hold while they made their way to the privacy of the mayor's office. Once there, with the door firmly shut behind them, the Mayor finally answered the question that was still hanging there in the air.

"Unless it was specifically accounted for? Time, primarily. The Sleeping Curse that your... parents are most famous for defeating? That one takes into account the passage of time. The only other way, besides True Love's Kiss, to break the curse would be to have killed the one under the curse. At least she wouldn't be sleeping anymore," she added to the knight's disbelieving look.

"And the way _this_ curse took into account the passage of time, was with the stasis spell, by _not allowing time to pass_. But time is passing now. So... I guess the question that we need to really be asking is what exactly this curse does," Emma observed.

"What do you mean?" Regina inquired.

"Well, that sleeping curse you just mentioned?" Emma shrugged, arms crossed. "All it _does_ is put the person in a coma-like state for the duration of the curse. Now, so far from what I have observed, _this_ curse is actually multifunctional, transporting all those affected across realms, wiping their memories, and then the extra stuff that we've already discussed. So the question remains, is the curse being transported across realms, or is it the rewritten memories and loss of the 'Happy Endings' Henry is so caught up on, or is it something else entirely? Something that even you may not be aware of?"

Frowning, she had to concede the point. "It... wasn't my curse. I cast it, but... I didn't create it."

"No, no, let me guess," Emma grumbled. "The one that created the curse is the pawn shop owner?"

"Mr. Gold," Regina confirmed with a grim expression.

"Then we need to speak with him," Emma declared. "Is he... also cursed, or is he unaffected as you are?"

"As far as I know, Mr. Gold _is_ Mr. Gold," Regina admitted freely. "There have been... moments when Rumpelstiltskin shines through, but personality wise they are much the same in any case. Over the years, in our... interactions, he's never outright confessed to me that he remembers, only... given hints. And either way, my dear, it would be an exercise in futility. If he is cursed, he would not know what you are talking about, even if you gave him proof and took him on his own field trip. If he isn't, well then, good luck getting him to confess. Even without magic, that cowardly imp is as dangerous as... as a Horror."

"Of that, I have little doubt," the knight acknowledged. "As many Horrors as your _Inga_ attracts, his would have every Horror in the Netherworld and at least one Apostle Horror coming out of every shadow just to get a chance at him. No, he stays here in Storybrooke."

"Well, that's good to know," Regina commented sarcastically.

"Still, I should... introduce myself to him," Emma smirked. "Just to be polite of course."

"Whatever makes you happy, my dear," the brunette gave her a thousand-watt, fake, smile.

"Oh come on, don't be that way," Emma grinned. "Dinner was fun last night. And hey, we did come to an agreement about things."

"You vowed to protect Henry and me, and swore that so long as I helped you find out what keeps this town Horror-free, that you won't break my curse or allow me to be killed if it is ever broken," the mayor pointed out. "Since you can't fully break it at present, that's not much of a bargain on my end."

"At least I didn't ask to sleep on the couch," the blond pouted.

"No, you just perched yourself on my roof, yet again," the former queen glared at the lady knight.

"OK, well I can see that I'm keeping you from your work," Emma stood to her feet. "I'll just make myself scarce. Go introduce myself to Mr. Gold, or Rumpelstiltskin, or whatever he calls himself. What time should I come by to pick you up?"

"Excuse me?" the mayor looked up at the knight, surprised.

"Henry is an innocent, not a touch of _Inga_ on him," Emma casually observed, "So unless a Horror is actually active in town, I'll trust his safety to the school. With the curse weakening, however, the possibility of a portal opening somewhere grows daily, and well, with your... _condition_, it is best if I'm nearby whenever you are going out."

"..." Regina just stared at her before blurting out in a most disbelieving manner, "... Seriously?"

Emma just nodded rather than reply.

"I,uh, I..." she faltered for a moment and then rethought the position from having 'the savior _babysitting_ her' to having 'a fully trained knight as her _bodyguard_', and surprisingly it made all the difference. She knew how to handle knight bodyguards. "I take my lunch at one o'clock at Granny's, and then I pick Henry up from school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he meets me here at my office so we can have an early dinner before his appointments with his therapist. And Miss Swan? See if you can do something about the coat?" Having said her piece, she turned her attention to her paperwork and got to work.

"Yes ma'am," Emma smirked again, nodded her head in a brief bow, and then vanished from the room when the mayor was no longer looking. Actually, she just slipped silently out the door, staying out of the woman's range observation and moving quickly enough that nothing would be noticed as out of place.

_Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop_

In spite of Tenka's cautions against it, and Regina's warning, Emma walked into the pawn shop, the bell ringing overhead as the door closed behind her. The man himself, Mr. Gold or whatever he was to be called, stood behind the counter, looking over an open ledger until the moment the bell had rung. Raising his attention from his accounts to the red coat wearing blond, he offered a welcoming smile, allowing the knight to get the unfiltered effect of his appearance.

By all accounts, he was in his mid-thirties, though his face was lined and worn. Coupled with his neck-length flat brown hair and the gold tooth he almost proudly displayed with his crocodile smile, it gave the impression of him being older than he actually was. The knight could see how, with ordinary people, that might cause them to underestimate him. To say nothing of his pronounced limp and use of a ornate-capped cane.

"Welcome," Mr. Gold greeted her, not moving from his place behind the counter. "What may I do for you today, Miss...?"

"Swan," she supplied, slowly strolling further into the shop, keeping her senses open, "Emma Swan."

"Emma," he repeated, rolling her name off his tongue, his welcoming smile shifting to something a bit more... suspect. "What a lovely name. Em—ma."

"Thanks," she shrugged at him, pausing by a couple of old wooden puppets, before quickly moving on to a crystal mobile of unicorns. For some reason that made her feel... nostalgic, though she could not explain why.

"I'm new in town," she finally said to him. "Planning on staying for a while. Noticed this shop a few times, thought I'd come in and take a look. From the name, I take it you're Mr. Gold?"

"Indeed I am," he nodded, staying mostly still as he observed her. "Let me know if there is anything I can help you with, Miss Swan. Every item in here has a story, and I find myself to be a bit of a collector."

"Of items?" she inquired.

"Of stories," he casually corrected her, still observing.

"Well, I'm sure you have a lot of them," she shot back after a beat. "Stories, I mean. Word around town is you own most of the land. How'd that happen? If you don't mind sharing such a story, that is?"

He grinned at her, though she could see that it never came close to reaching his eyes. "That actually is one of the most dull and boring stories I have in my collection, dearie. A simple matter of legalese, in that my family were the first settlers of the area, and made wise investments over the years. I inherited it, of course."

"Of course," Emma said, having now reached the counter and observing him as much as he had her. With Regina, she'd been able to identify how the... well, the magic of the surroundings flowed differently around her than it did everyone else in the town. The time spent trying to figure out if she was the Evil Queen or not was mostly just to confirm her suspicions. In Gold's case here, she could sense that he was 'cursed' the same way everyone else in town was, but he was further different still. And not just because of his _Inga_ staining either. Relying on only her own senses, she would be forced to confess that it was like he was a mix of Regina and everybody else, or that he was cursed and not cursed at the same time. It might just be that he was the one to create the curse, but she didn't think so. It was more than that.

"How are you with fairy tales, Mr. Gold?" she asked, closely observing him.

"How do you mean?" he asked back without missing a beat.

"Well, you say you collect stories, do you collect fairy tales? Old books, or toys of Snow White, Cinderella, or... Rumpelstiltskin? Y'know, things like that?"

"Hm," he grinned that cold grin of his again, and then confessed, "No, I'm sorry, but anything of that nature would be a coincidence or a comparison against those tales of old. You might have better luck down the road at the thrift store, though dearie."

"Ah, well, thank you, I'll try there later."

Having seen enough, and knowing when not to push her luck unduly, Emma decided to retreat for the time being. She trusted her senses in this case. Gold was Mr. Gold alright, but he could remember everything from being Rumpelstiltskin just the same. Regina as the mayor was an act. Gold was a persona, same as everyone else in town, save for Regina and Henry that is.

"Come again," he called out as a parting shot.

Stopping in the door way, one foot out and one foot dragging behind her, she looked back at him over her shoulder and replied, "You can count on it. Mister _Gold_," rolling his name off her tongue as he had hers.

Once outside and assured of her relative privacy, she glanced down at her right bicep and inquired, "So, what did you think?"

_Of how stupid you are acting?_

Emma snorted and rolled her eyes at Tenka's reaction. "No, of him, the pawn shop owner, the creator of this curse? I'm thinking he was cursed, same as everybody else, he just managed to twist it so that he can still remember everything about who he was before while still being cursed."

_I agree._

"What? Just that?" Emma said, sounding shocked, but they both knew she was just teasing.

_Yes._

The blond snorted again and focused on her next destination rather than teasing her madougu. Walking into the diner, she made her way to the booth by the window near the back corner. Facing the door, she waited for the waitress, Ruby, to come take her order. The menu, while extensive, was pretty basic for a small town diner and she'd memorized it the day she'd first sat here for hours on end, people watching. She'd found a few things that she liked, but she had yet to try the whole menu. Figured that she might get started on that while she waited and continued to people-watch.

"Here you go," Ruby announced as she walked up, placing a whip cream and cinnamon covered hot chocolate in front of her.

Brow raised, Emma replied, "Thank you, but I didn't order yet."

"Yeah, I know," Ruby smirked and subtly gestured behind her while saying, "You have an admirer."

Turning, Emma saw the Sheriff sitting in a booth down from her. Keeping her senses open, and long since having learned how to see more than just what was right in front of her, she was aware that her son was sitting in the next booth down, hidden by the bulk of the tall and gruff Sheriff Graham. Getting up from her seat, she walked towards them.

"Ah, so you decided to stay," the Sheriff commented as she came up next to him.

"Observant," she remarked flippantly. "Important for a cop."

"That's good news for our tourist business, not so good news for..." he started to say, but she beat him to the punch line as it were.

"For you, seeing as I managed to do your job for you half a dozen times since I've been in town, including locating and retrieving the Mayor's son," the interrupted him with a smile she'd learned from watching Regina these past few days. "Thanks for the cocoa, by the way."

He smirked at her, and said back, "I didn't send it."

"Who said I was talking to you?" Emma whispered half a beat before Henry sat up in his booth and announced, "I did. I like cinnamon in my hot chocolate, so I figured you would too."

Emma smirked one last time and winked at the Sheriff before sitting down across from her son in his booth. "Don't you have school?" she asked him pointedly.

"Duh," he shrugged, "I'm ten. Walk me?"

Rolling her eyes, Emma made no move to get up, enjoying her hot chocolate. After her next sip, she asked him, "So, what's up kid? I just saw you like half an hour ago at your house for breakfast."

"I want to talk about the curse," he stated, being very forthright.

She nodded and took another sip of the warm beverage, waiting.

"I know you, somehow, talked my mom into breaking her own curse, but the book says that it is all on you. But that doesn't mean I can't help out!" Henry grinned expectantly at her.

She said nothing, just staring right back at him, drinking her hot chocolate.

"The first step is identification," he said after a moment when it was clear she wouldn't say anything. "I call it; Operation Cobra!"

She shot him a disbelieving look and retorted, "Cobra? That has... almost nothing to do with fairy tales."

"Exactly, it's a codename," he said, grinning. "It'll throw the Queen off the trail."

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. Draining the last of her drink, she got up and amended her plans for the day. Henry obviously would rather spend time with her talking over the curse than being in school. Problem was, that forced her to readjust her priorities and actually took her away from dealing with the curse as instead she would be focused on protecting Henry. Getting up, she pulled him along and they left the diner, taking him to school.

"Come on, kid," she said as she dragged him along, "Time for school. And for the record, unless or until either I or your mom tell you otherwise, you stay in school during school hours. I can't deal with the curse and everything else if I'm having to protect you and your mom all the time."

"I can take care of myself!" he argued.

"Time is moving again, kid," she pointed out the clock tower. "The curse is already weakening. Part of what kept Horrors out of this town is that time was frozen. It's not anymore. Which means I'm half expecting an _Inga_ portal to pop up any day now, and then it is just a matter of time before Horrors come here. And your Mom is target number two if that happens."

"Oh," he whispered, his head ducking down.

She sighed and growled at herself. Putting a hand on his head, she said to him, "What did you mean about identification being the first step?"

He looked up, grinning once more. "That's the cure! If we know who everybody is, then we just have to remind them of stuff that they used to know. Maybe even get them their Happy Endings while they're here!"

"Yeah, your mom and I discussed something like that," Emma said. "She didn't seem to be all that enthusiastic about the idea. OK, so where do you suggest that I start?"

"Your mom and dad," he said resolutely.

"Snow White and Prince Charming, you mean?"

"Yep," he nodded excitedly.

"And they would be..." she cast about along the somewhat busy street.

"Well, my teacher, Mary Margaret is Snow White, but I haven't seen your dad around town," Henry said.

"Hm," Emma tilted her head, considering. "Well, in the book, just after he put me in the wardrobe, he passed out from his injuries, and the Curse struck soon after that. It is possible that, given time's been frozen, he may still be suffering, or recovering from those injuries. After I get you to school, I'll check out the hospital. Speaking of which..." She trailed off and took a look at the clock again, realizing the time. "Shortcut!"

"Huh?" Henry questioned as she pulled him into a nearby alley and then physically picked him up. "What are you... WHOA! YAY!"

Once she had her son in her arms, Emma jumped straight up and easily landed on the roof of the building they were standing next to. Marking the relative position of the school, she quickly mapped out a path and without setting Henry down, ran at full speed across the rooftop and then jumped across the way to the next building over, and then to the top of a telephone pole, and then to another building, and then the edge of a house roof before sliding down the slanted surface and using the momentum to arch across the way. After she ran out of houses and roofs to jump from, they came to a number of very sturdy trees, slipping through the branches and using them to springboard from one to another, Henry screaming in glee the whole way.

Finally they got to within walking distance of the school and Emma allow the two of them to drop to the ground with no one having noticed a thing. Oh sure, they heard the screaming, but it was a doppler effect and no one ever really looked up anyway.

"That! Was! AMAZING!" Henry screamed, practically vibrating in his shoes he was jumping up and down so much. "Can we do that again? We have to do that again! We are totally doing that again!"

Emma smiled and ruffled her son's hair up a bit, but made no promises.

"Come on, kid. Time for school. And no telling your friends and promising them rides or anything!" she warned as he ran off.

"No problem!" he shouted back over his shoulder, giggling like a child.

"It's good to see his smile back," a familiar voice said just off to the side.

Emma turned and noticed Henry's teacher, Mary Margaret Blanchard, her mother. They hadn't officially met, as such, but they had seen each other around town and said hello, and obviously as with everywhere the rumor mill filled in quite a bit of the rest. So Miss Blanchard no doubt knew that she was Henry's birth mother and staying in town for a while.

"I didn't do much," she responded to the earlier statement.

"You stayed," she said. "So... does the Mayor know you're still here?"

"Oh, she knows," Emma said, turning to walk beside the teacher as she slowly strolled back inside. "Say, Miss Blanchard..."

"Please, call me Mary Margaret," the raven-haired woman interrupted, smiling openly.

"Mary Margaret," Emma nodded. "Can you tell me much of anything about the past few years? Like Regina, when she was last elected, how did things go? And did she do much campaigning with Henry? How long has she been the mayor for that matter?"

"She's been Mayor as long as I can remember," Mary Margaret answered with a surprised look on her face. "No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of... well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book and now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."

"Who does he think you are?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"It's silly," she scoffed.

Emma shrugged grinned openly. "I like silly. Besides, it might help. Lay it on me."

"Snow White," Mary Margaret finally admitted, blushing to bring color to her white cheeks. "Who does he think you are?"

The blond looked up, her face showing the same surprise and embarrassment, and despite that she didn't hesitate in answering, "The Knight Savior. The hero that comes in and defeats the Evil Queen and breaks the curse, saving all the so-called Happy Endings."

"Wasn't that Prince Charming?" Mary Margaret asked, teasing.

"Nah," Emma waved it off. "Supposedly he married Snow White and they had a kid together. According to the book anyway. So, how about it, Mary Margaret? Dating anyone? Met your Prince Charming yet? Got a little one in daycare that could be Henry's playmate?"

"No," Mary Margaret said, looking down, regret shining in her bright blue eyes. "I'm... well, no, I haven't found anyone yet. How about you? Are you and Henry's father...?"

"That is a story for another time... and a lot of alcohol," Emma put a stop to that line of questioning forthwith. "Moving on, Regina mentioned Henry being in therapy. Any clue on where I might find the doctor?"

_Main Street_

_Offices of Archibald Hopper_

Knocking on the door as she entered, Emma greeted the human occupant with a smile and a, "Hey."

"Emma Swan," the tall bespectacled curly-haired redhead greeted as he stood to his feet, newspaper in hand. "It's nice to meet you again. How did things go with, uh..."

"Regina? The Mayor? Her evil majesty?" Emma joked.

"All of the above," Archie nodded with an understanding smile.

"It went... as well as could be expected," she said truthfully. "Given the circumstances. I'm actually here about Henry. You're his therapist, right?"

"I'm sorry," the man (former cricket) apologized, looking mightily uncomfortable, "I-I, I really shouldn't..."

She stopped the excuse diatribe, interrupting with, "I know, and I'm sorry for putting you in such a position. But I need to understand some things and Regina being... Regina, you're my next best bet."

"Well, there's not much that I can say or offer, not without violating patient confidentiality, you understand?" the therapist pointed out.

"Then we'll talk about me and what I do, and only talk about Henry in the hypothetical," she offered, sitting down on the count across from the psychologist's chair. "Such as, is it really healthy for him to have me being back in his life like this?"

"Are you thinking of leaving, Miss Swan?" Archie asked as he took his seat.

"If it means that Henry starts skipping school and disobeying his legal guardian and putting himself into dangerous situations, just so he can spend some time with me, which is worse? Me leaving and him being safe, but unhappy for a brief time, or me staying and him becoming a delinquent that will get himself killed before his eighteenth birthday?"

"I would hardly classify Henry as a _delinquent_," Archie scoffed.

"He left for school this morning, only instead of going straight there, he went to the diner to meet me and buy me a hot chocolate," she deadpanned. "I barely got him back to school on time, and from what I saw he would have been more than happy to blow the whole day off to just follow me around like a puppy. And then there's the fairy tale thing, which he isn't exactly quiet about."

"Well, about that," Archie explained, "These stories—they're his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotions so he's translating as best he can, this is how he communicates. He's using this book to help deal with his problems."

"But he got the book a month ago," Emma pointed out. "Has he been seeing you longer than that?"

"Uh, um, yes, he has," the therapist removed his spectacles and began to clean them.

Frowning, Emma made the connection. "So, it's Regina, isn't it?"

"Uh, his mother is a... very complicated woman, and uh—over the years, her attempts to try and bring Henry closer have only backfired," Archie confessed. "I think..."

"Whoa, wait a second, what... attempts?" Emma asked.

"It's not my place to say," Archie rebuffed the query.

"Is Regina also your patient?" she inquired, curious.

"Not... really, no," he hesitated to say. "We do have—occasional—conversations, but she is not officially my patient, no."

"Yes or no, don't hesitate, does she love Henry?" Emma rapidly asked.

"She wants to," Archie stressed.

"Yes or no, Archie," she pressed.

"... No," he finally admitted, looking pained at having done so. "Part of her just won't let him close, and with that barrier between them, he'll be... well not as close to her as one might call love."

"Huh," Emma leaned back, a thoughtful look on her face. Suddenly she leaned forward, elbows on her knees and asked him, "Have you read through Henry's book yourself?"

"Uh, I've... skimmed it," he admitted, embarrassed.

"Near the end, there is a passage about the Evil Queen fighting with Maleficent for the curse that she used on Snow White and everybody else," Emma said, keeping things in the perspective of the book so as not to arouse suspicions. "Do you remember that part?"

"I... vaguely recall it," Archie said. "I remember thinking that it was... unique to find such elements interacting in opposing stories, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, that is. Why do you ask?"

"I think I remember it saying something about Maleficent warning the Queen that if she cast the curse, the consequence would be a void in her heart or soul or something. Do you think that may be why Henry assigned the role of the Evil Queen to his mother? Because he somehow sees that she has something, a void if you will, that keeps her from properly loving him?"

"One can certainly look at it that way," Archie nodded.

"So, hypothetically speaking," Emma emphasized the words, "What might it take to convince Henry that his mom _isn't_ the Evil Queen? That maybe she's some other fairy tale character, like Rapunzel or Guinevere or maybe even Tinkerbell?"

"Hypothetically speaking," Archie re-emphasized, to which Emma nodded. "You would have to convince Regina to go along with Henry's belief system, at least for a little while, and have her behave in characteristics associated with whatever... character you or she chose. Perhaps, rather than reassigning her to a whole new character, maybe..."

"Yes?" Emma prompted when he trailed off.

"Maybe try and..." he shrugged, "... redeem the Evil Queen? Work with him to show the good that she can do, and also maybe try and get her to open up a bit? Telling stories of ones past are usually an excellent bonding experience. Maybe have Regina tell Henry about her own parents or what life was like when she was his age. Things that he and she can relate to one another with. Hypothetically speaking of course."

"Of course," Emma grinned. "Well, thank you very much for your time, Doctor Hopper. I think it will prove to be most... useful in the coming days. I'll let you get back to your work."

"Not at all, Miss Swan," he stood and offered his hand.

"Emma, please," she said, shaking his hand and then turned to leave.

_Mayor's Office_

"Lunch time!" Emma announced as she came into the office, two to-go bags from the diner in her hand.

"I thought I asked you to do something about that coat," Regina said without looking up.

"Eh, it has sentimental value," the blond grinned, setting the bags down on the nearby meeting table. "Besides, I thought you liked the color red. Anyway, got something for myself and your usual. Figured we would have lunch here as there is something we need to discuss."

"Oh, and what might that be, my dear?" Regina sneered, finishing up the last of her paperwork.

"Henry thinks that we can weaken the curse by bringing the so called Happy Endings back," she said while getting the food out. "And by identifying who everybody is, then we just go around and get things back on track for them to have said Happy Ending. I think, there might be another way to go about that."

"Care to enlighten me?" Regina prompted after making her way over to the conference table.

"We fix what the curse broke in you," Emma replied, plopping down next to the mayor.

"Excuse me?" she looked at her bodyguard askance.

"In the book," Emma said between bites and swallows, "there was a passage. About a fight. Between you and Maleficent? Said something about the curse creating a void that you would never be able to fill?"

"I recall the conversation," Regina growled, eyes squinting.

"So, my thought is that if we can make it so the _consequence_ of the curse is—pardon the term—voided, then that would weaken it further than if everybody got their Happy Endings back, which would take months of work. And quite frankly, I'm not that patient."

"Why, dear? Do you have some place to be?" Regina scoffed while forking her salad.

"Old habit. Never liked the idea of putting down roots. Not to mention I'm used to dealing with situations... quickly. Longest I've ever hunted a Horror was four days. I've already been in town for nearly a week. I'm getting... itchy."

_Perhaps you should speak to that therapist about your commitment issues._

"The poorly named trinket has a point," Regina commented. "And is that where this new idea of yours is coming from? Did the bug go on and on about me having a void that needs to be filled?"

"No, I noticed that right off the bat," Emma answered. "I can see that you care about Henry, but you keep him at arms length, not to protect him—like I'm doing, but to protect yourself. I have trouble staying in one place, comes back to my abandonment issues from childhood, not to mention moving around from place to place since I was a teenager. You can't get yourself to love the son you're raising, and your behavior is at best described as sociopathic. The clinical term, not what everybody else says it means."

"You're one to judge," Regina growled, hackles up.

"Don't you _want_ to feel something besides that overwhelming emptiness and pit of rage in your stomach?" Emma inquired, genuinely curious.

Regina turned back to her salad and refused to answer.

"Well, I think you do, so we'll come at the curse from both sides," the blond decided.

"What do you mean?" the brunette sighed, exasperated by the conversation already.

"We'll both help Henry bring back the Happy Endings," she said, "And I'll help you fill that void in your heart. After that, we'll see where we stand."

"What is it you are proposing?" the Evil Queen asked, staring into the blond's blue eyes, a sinful smile on her face.

"I'm not sure exactly," she confessed. "I can see that you are not an innocent, but at the same time... there is something good about you. Something worth saving. And until I figure out what that is, I'm going to keep trying."

"Trying what? To save me?" the Mayor laughed. "I thought you were here to protect me, my dear?"

"I am. And I will always protect you, and Henry. And like I said, I'm not sure what I would be saving you from, if anything. But facts are, you are stained in so much _Inga_ that you lured out half a dozen Horrors just by being in the city for less than a full day. Metaphorically speaking, you are covered in darkness. So maybe that is what I'm saving you from. The darkness." They finished the rest of their lunch in silence.

_Storybrooke Border (Outside)_

It had followed the scent from the city. The scent of _Inga_. The scent of a human so drenched in darkness that it was as intoxicating as one being showered with the blood of a Horror. That scent is what had it searching the dark woods in the middle of nowhere almost. No humans around to devour, no prey to hunt, but the scent! This is where the scent went! And it wanted to see exactly what kind of human could produce so... intoxicating a scent.

The Horror, not bothering with its human disguise at all, screamed out into the night, trying to draw out its prey and track it by the fear all humans have of the darkness. Flitting through the shadows of the trees, the monster unleashed its nightmare cry several more times, circling around and around where the scent lead, but unable to get any closer. It knew it was close, but the Horror could not comprehend why it hadn't found the _Inga_-drenched human yet. Not really bothering with logic or deduction, the Horror just kept circling around the road that disappeared into the woods, but never setting a foot so much as an inch closer to the border of Storybrooke than that.

Not that it knew or could even detect the cursed town beyond.

_Storybrooke Bed & Breakfast_

Emma's eyes snapped open automatically. She didn't know exactly what had awoken her, but she was familiar with waking up like this. A Horror was nearby, and on the hunt. "Tenka?" she thumped the Madougu on her arm, waking it up and alerting it to what her instincts were screaming at her by this point.

_There is a Horror just beyond the town border. I cannot tell much more than that, and the only reason I can sense it at all is because it has been staying in one spot long enough for the environment to reflect its presence. It must have followed you back from the city._

"Crap," Emma grumbled, grabbing her sword and putting her coat on in a single move. She was out the window and on the ground running before long. Regina had forbidden her from sleeping on her roof anymore, forcing the Knight to go to the local Bed & Breakfast to get a room, as it was the only place to stay in town.

It was only a few minutes, but with each passing second as she drew nearer to the Horror, it felt like a small eternity. Was it going to break through? Had she just condemned these people to a plague of Horrors they were ill-equipped to deal with? Why was it just staying in one place like that?

The questions kept piling up with each running step she took, but she wouldn't have her answers until she faced it and stood between the Horror and the town. So she ran faster, letting the questions come, yet dreading the answers. She was so focused on her goal that she never even noticed the Sheriff spotting her as she blazed down the road—not that he got out of his cruiser—and began to follow her at a distance.

Running up to the 'Now Leaving Storybrooke' sign, she spotted the Horror as it seemed to be leaping from shadow to shadow back and forth across the road, but never coming within ten feet of her current position. She stopped and watched it for the moment, curious as to the abnormal behavior for a fully manifested Horror beast. Something was off, and until she knew what it was, she wasn't about to rush blindly into a potentially delicate situation. Especially not if it endangered innocents.

On the other side of the town border, the Horror was still trying to find its prey, so ingrained in its instincts that it wasn't going to bother with getting frustrated. Besides, it had fed before starting this journey and along the way it had come across a random human snack, so it could last till sunrise, which was still hours away. A prize like this was worth the effort.

Emma was intrigued. She'd been watching the Horror for nearly half an hour now, and while its movements were entirely random, it never strayed from the road by more than a dozen or so yards, and yet it never came within ten feet of the sign marking the town boundary. It would seem that there truly was something to the theory of the Curse making the town Horror-proof. Still, it would be nice to know for sure.

"Tenka? What do you think?" she asked, putting her right arm forward so the Madougu could better see.

_It is a low level Horror, that much is clear. It appears to be tracking Regina's _Inga _trail. It will be several more weeks before that dissipates, by the way, if not a full year. Others may follow this one. More powerful ones, not to mention smarter. It doesn't even realize what it is doing, it is merely tracking the _Inga_, not looking to see where the trail leads or what is between it and its prey._

"I was actually talking about the fact that it can't seem to get within ten feet of the boundary line," Emma commented, amused.

_That is because it cannot _see _the boundary line. All it can sense are the woods around it. The magic protecting this town is most inventive, as it does more than just make everything inside it invisible, but also makes it so that even if it were visible, people still would not be able to perceive anything. And then the moment they look away, they would forget that they looked in this direction in the first place. Apparently the effect begins at just over ten feet from the actual boundary._

"That does it, Regina is so teaching me the spells for this boundary of hers," Emma declared, reaching for her sword.

Before she could draw it however, she sensed, and then heard, the police cruiser coming up behind her. Quickly putting the weapon out of sight, she turned and faced the car as it came to a gradual stop, the headlights shining in her face forcing her to squint a little. Leaving the lights on, Sheriff Graham stepped out of the vehicle and turned on his flashlight, shining that in her face too.

"Miss Swan," he called. "Something I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually," she replied as politely as she could, which given the circumstances wasn't very much. "You can get your light out of my eyes so I can actually see again."

"Sorry about that," he apologized, stepping around to the front and lowering his flashlight. "Can I ask, what are you doing out here at this time of night?"

"You can ask," she said, grinning.

After a couple seconds, he chuckled and repeated, "What are you doing out here, Miss Swan?"

"At the moment?" she shrugged and turned her back on him. "My job. Don't worry, Sheriff, it is nothing illegal. In fact, the Mayor herself is aware of what I do and I dare say that she would have no problem with me performing it, no matter the hour or location."

"Care to tell me what that job is exactly?" Graham asked.

"Not really, no," Emma said over her shoulder.

_Emma!_

She snapped her attention away from the Sheriff and back toward the Horror at Tenka's urgent whisper. For the first time in what had to be hours, it had stopped moving randomly and was staying on the road, slowly inching closer toward the boundary. It was still well outside ten feet away, but it was staring right at them. Or rather... right at the cruiser's headlights. Shit!

"Sheriff! Turn off the lights! Immediately!" she ordered, drawing her sword, no longer caring about secrecy or any of that.

"Put down the weapon!" Graham snapped, drawing his gun and pointing it and his flashlight at her face in the professional grip all law enforcement officers are trained to use.

"Graham," Emma spoke quietly, cautiously, drawing his attention more than if she'd shouted at him again. "Look about twenty feet in front of me. And don't panic."

He held his breath, not because of what she'd said or how she'd said it, or even for what he eventually saw there, but because she had drawn the sword and was holding it at the ready. Fortunately, she wasn't pointing it at him. If he hadn't already been holding his breath, he might have gasped when he saw what she _was_ pointing it at. So he cursed instead.

"Holy mother of... _what is that_?!" he screamed, unclear on if she should point his gun at her or... or the _thing_ slowly advancing on the town border!

"That," Emma told him with a deep, regretful sigh, "is my job. Stay here, and for the love of mercy _put out the damn lights_!" She regretted shouting, as it was already clear that the boundary didn't filter out or stop light, it definitely wasn't going to block sound. Especially not an echoing shout.

_You never used to be this sloppy._

"Shut up," she grumbled at the Madougu. "Sheriff? Stay here, by your cruiser. This isn't for you, and you cannot handle it. So I will. All right?"

"What is that?" Graham asked again, sounding... a little bit more in control. He'd turned off the flashlight and was just now turning off the cruiser's lights.

"It... is a really long story," Emma told him quietly in the sudden darkness. "And... well, I'll explain later. Just stay here, by the car. This won't take long, but if you go past the town sign, you _will_ be in danger and I don't know if I'll be able to protect you or not. So. Will you stay by the car?"

"Will you tell me what is going on?" he countered.

"Yes," she answered immediately, and honestly. She could still wipe his memories if it became necessary. At worst he would lose a nights worth of memories and blame it on sleeping on the job.

"Then, uh, yeah, I'll stay by the car," he agreed. Like he was going to say anything else.

Without bothering to look back, as she was confident that he would do as he said, she stepped past the sign and across the Curse's boundary. A part of her was idly curious as to how it might have looked from the Horror's perspective. Lights shining out of the darkness, a person walking out of nowhere, and a road that didn't go anywhere in the middle of the woods. If Horrors were capable of such reactions, it might've been freaking out like a UFO had just landed in its lap or something. Not that it really mattered.

Once she was certain the Horror could see her (only a couple feet past the sign, enough for one full step) she slowly drew her sword and began to stalk forward. It recognized her immediately.

"_Makai Kishi_!" the Horror cursed, going on the offensive before she could get a step closer.

Emma blocked the beast's claws and pushed it back and away from the boundary. To get to her, it had come closer to the border than what it managed in its own aimless wandering and frantic searching. She was not going to risk it coming inside the range of the curse just because it was locked in combat with her. Running forward in a charge, she mostly kept knocking it back and further away from the town than try and damage it. Once she sensed she was more than a hundred yards from Graham and the boundary, that is when she stopped rebuffing the Horror and prepared to fight for real.

Seeing as it was a low level Horror, it was clear she wouldn't have any meaningful conversation this evening, and given that it was already 'manifested' and it wasn't exactly giving her much trouble, she didn't plan on using her armor for this one. Still...

Stepping back and holding her sword back so it was flat against Tenka along her right bicep, she waited for the right moment to strike. The Horror gave its terrible screaming cry, mandible-horns flexing, claws spread open wide while its fangs clenched. It jumped up into the air, probably intending on falling down on her or hiding amongst the branches of the trees to either side of the road. The Makai Knight moved first before it could.

Jumping up, Emma kicked the beast in the chest, knocking it back down to the ground. Before it could get up, she dove down after it, sword point first. It hissed and rolled away, narrowly dodging the Soul Metal blade as it bit into the asphalt. Not letting up for a moment, the blond lashed out, kicking up some stones to pelt the Horror with, distracting it as her sword closed in. It dodged backward into the woods, forcing her to give chase, jumping up and kicking off the trees at head height, trying to keep on the pressure while keeping it from getting any closer to Storybrooke.

Hidden by the darkness, striking from the shadows, the Horror began to turn the tables on the lady knight, forcing her to run and chase after it and barely able to defend when it turned and attacked with no warning, sometimes landing the odd hit. Unfortunately in a case such as this, with limited visibility, not to mention being distracted over her concerns about keeping it away from the boundary, she was having trouble pulling off her usual trick of figuring out the Horror's pattern and turning it to her advantage somehow.

Still, as long as the town was safe... as long as Henry was safe...

_Emma! Stop moping and take care of this thing already! There may be more on their way!_

Tenka snapped her out of her funk with that sharp retort.

She sped up. Moving through the trees and shadows as fast as she was able. The Horror, having skin black as sin, not to mention the annoying ability to disappear into its own shadow, had a unique advantage, but now it had fewer opportunities to turn and attack her as it was forced to run more and more. Their zigzag pattern through the woods seemed to take them in circles and eventually they found themselves back on the highway. It was getting desperate, and the still lingering 'scent' of Regina's _Inga_ reminded the beast what it had been doing here in the first place. So at the last second, rather than run back into the woods, the moment it hit the pavement it turned and began to charge back down the road toward Storybrooke.

Panic suffused Emma when she saw this action. Horrors were Horrors, no matter the power they wielded, she reminded herself. Even low level Horrors devoured people, and they were typically the ones to run and hide. The stronger Horrors were the ones that played games and made elaborate plans to get their 'unique' brand of food. As for the Horrors powerful enough to be considered gods by the less informed, well, thankfully in recent years they'd stayed or only been found in or around Japan. Didn't change the fact that she should have already ended this, instead of playing around and chasing it through the woods, just because it was a 'low level' Horror!

"No more playing around," Emma growled, fist clenched tight around her sword. "Time to end this!"

Even as she watched the Horror charge down the road to where Graham was still waiting and watching, she raised her Soul Metal sword above her head, held parallel to the ground, and then spun it in a perfect circle, the halo of light forming in an instant and shattering open in the following instant. Loba's white and gold armor descended with a roar of anger. She wasn't done yet though.

It was overkill, in the extreme as a matter of fact, but she was pissed and beyond frustrated with this 'low level Horror' that she should have taken out in the first few moments of the encounter. Slowly, the edge of the now ornate and much larger sword cutting the pattern of light into the air in front of her, Loba traced out a very specific Makai rune, it was two half-moon slashes one on top the other on the bottom with a cross running between them. She then drew a circle around it, opening the gate for the Madou Steed to come through.

"_Garou_!" Loba cried out as she jumped and was mounted on the charging Madou Beast.

It gave the thundering cry of a stallion at full gallop, clopped its front hooves once, unleashing a pressure wave that shook the leaves of all the trees, and more importantly tripped up the Horror. The Madou Steed is a sign of a Titled Knight, a creation of the Netherworld, tamed and fashioned for each Knight. Emma, being a new knight and the first of her line to _be_ a Makai Knight, was the one to fight and tame the Madou Steed when it came time for her trial.

After vanquishing their one hundredth Horror, a Makai Knight will face a trial, they will fight and must defeat the shadow that lies within them. This shadow takes the form of the Knight's armor while they can only use what they bring with them. Emma, despite being a 'new' Knight and a woman at that, was never expected to face the Trial, so it surprised everyone in the Order when she did... and conquered Loba the first time, within an hour. Many Titled Knights face the Trial more than once before they are successful, even the most powerful and well-respected of all Makai Knights, Garo, had to come back and change tactics when his Trial came about.

Once she'd defeated the shadow within her heart, the real trial began as _Loba_ was a new Knight and had no Madou Steed to call upon. Which meant going into the Netherworld, finding and then conquering a Madou Beast before taming it into her Madou Steed. Took her about a week of near-constant battle, but _Garou_ was worth it in the Lady Knight's humble opinion.

Garou, from a distance, looked like any armored horse would from a distance. In actuality it _was_ the armor! As with Loba's armor, the primary color scheme was white with gold trim and chainmail under-armor. The mane and tail were feathered white streams of material fluttering in the wind of its passage. The more unique aspect about Garou though was that out of its head, a sharpened spiral blade as long as Loba's sword stood gleaming silver in the moonlight, making Garou more of a unicorn than a horse.

Having lost all patience, Loba kicked the Madou Steed into action and together they charged down the Horror, sword held out to the side, ready to strike!

The Horror only had enough time to pick itself back up from its stumble, stand and turn to see its death charging towards it like the proverbial pale horse. The Makai Knight and Steed passed it by an instant later, destroying it utterly with a slice from Loba's sword, an impalement by Garou's horn, and to put the finishing touch on the overkill, kicking out at it with the rear hooves to obliterate the body with another pressure wave. By the time she slowed down and momentum had died down, she was once again within ten feet of the boundary. Jumping off the back of Garou, she banished the armor and Makai Steed at the same time, and casually stepped over the boundary line at a slight jog.

"What... what was that?" Graham asked, a tremor in his voice. He'd drawn his gun again, holding it with both hands, but at least he was keeping it pointed at the ground.

"What was what?" she asked with a sarcastic grin. "Hey Sheriff, mind giving me a lift back to the Bed and Breakfast? It is the middle of the night, almost still."

"Uh, sure?" he said, looking back and forth between her and the darkness beyond the boundary.

"Should I drive?" she asked when she noticed how shaken he was as they walked back to the cruiser.

_Mayor's Office_

_Next Morning_

"What's this about, Sheriff?" Regina snapped when she saw Graham walking in without first being summoned by her. She could count on one hand the times that had ever happened, including this time, and have plenty of fingers left over. Then a chill went up and down her spine and she looked up again.

Emma Swan had followed the man that had been her Huntsman into her office.

"Close the door," she ordered, and only once it was secure did she demand to know, "What happened?"

"A Horror showed up just outside town on the highway," Emma answered, quietly but still quite frank about it considering the present company.

"I thought you said that your... job, was to remain a secret, my dear?" the dark haired beauty said, her voice taking on that seductive tone she gets whenever she's getting ahead in mind games.

"It is, with exceptions being made only for family, close allies, and..." she trailed off, waiting to see if Regina could guess what she was hinting at.

Catching the hint, the brunette merely retorted, "And something that he clearly is not and could not be. What does he already know?"

Smirking at how clever her son's mother was being, Emma turned to Graham, shrugged, and gestured for him to go ahead. Clearing his throat, the Sheriff looked down briefly before looking back up at Regina's face and began to speak. "Well, Madam Mayor, I'm... not exactly sure where to begin. I know that... your new friend here, Ms. Swan, has a very... dangerous job. I know that there was... _something_ out there, just past the city limit sign. And I know that Ms. Swan took care of it in a rather, shall we say, permanent fashion. Exactly what, in any of those cases, I haven't the foggiest clue."

"So he doesn't know anything, he just witnessed you doing your job and you left it at that?" Regina glared at the blond standing next to the Sheriff.

"I tried to, uh, plug the leak, if you know what I mean," Emma shrugged at the brunette, ignoring Graham's incredulous look. "But as it turns out, it's already 'plugged' with something else and there's no room for what I was using to plug said leak."

Regina frowned and glared anew, this time at the both of them.

"Sheriff, I will take care of this, good day to you," the Mayor snapped, clearing off her desk.

"No ma'am, I'm afraid that's not good enough," Graham snapped right back, startling the brunette behind the desk. While he'd offered her the occasional small rebellion over the years, before and after the curse, and he was one of the few, besides the bug, that actually dared to talk back to her on a regular basis, he'd never crossed the line of outright defying her before. Startling was an understatement.

"I saw... something, and I was not hallucinating," he continued. "Now, either Emma here is guilty of murder, and therefore I have to arrest her, or..." He swallowed heavily, "Or, she just saved this town from some kind of monster and is a hero, and her job is way above my pay grade, making my job to support her in every way I can. Now, there is no middle ground on this, Madam Mayor. I need to know what is going on and just what exactly Emma Swan's job is here in this town."

Staring at the scruffy-looking man, in his vest, blue shirt with red tie, and dark leather jacket, the Mayor silently considered her options. It all kept coming back to needing to discuss this with the Makai Knight before she made any decision that would undoubtedly have long term consequences. Which, at the least, gave her a decision she could take immediate action on, and would buy her enough time to think this through. Something her Knight bodyguard seemed to have great difficulty with.

"Sheriff," Regina said, slowly standing to her feet behind her desk, placing her closed fists on it as she leaned forward to speak 'in his face' as it were. "I need a few minutes with Miss Swan to discuss what... I am allowed to disclose. So, if you would, kindly wait outside until I call for you?"

She said this in such a way that Graham could not conceal the reaction to gulp nervously. He just nodded, reluctantly, and left the office, closing the door behind him.

"What! The! Hell!?" Regina shouted the instant after the click sounded in the office. "Miss Swan! I demand an explanation! How could something like this happen? I thought we were safe!"

"And you are!" Emma shouted back to get her to back off.

Regina scoffed and turned toward her liqueur cabinet, but the blond's next words slowed her approach.

"Last night I saw the actual proof of it, as a matter of fact!" she exclaimed. "The Horror couldn't get within ten feet of the boundary! It was bouncing all over the place, tracking your _Inga_ trail, but it just kept going around and around in circles, not able to get so much as an inch closer, no matter what angle it came at. Then Sheriff Andy out there drives up with his high beams on and comes out with his torch lit and everything. Apparently whatever keeps people from noticing or seeing or whatever past the boundary isn't able to block light. Not sure exactly what the Horror saw, but it could see the lights just fine. I got the Sheriff to turn everything off, and then I did my job and got rid of the Horror. Almost got away a couple times, so I stopped playing with it and pretty much went all out."

_Emma never goes all out against Horrors, Regina._

"Oh really?" the brunette sarcastically remarked to the arm band's statement.

_Yes. Really._

She stopped and finally turned away from the liqueur cabinet, arms crossed and a frown etched on her face. "All right. All right. So, you can't cast your memory spells on him to make him forget?" she asked.

Emma shook her head, also frowning.

"I did try, just so you know," the blond excused. "But it was blocked. Not that the spell couldn't be cast, or that it wouldn't stick, or that it failed. It was blocked. Because he's _already_ forgotten a whole lifetime and false memories have been put in its place. Normally casting multiple memory spells on a person isn't a problem. Except..."

"When there is other magic involved," Regina grumbled, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Yep," Emma shrugged. "So I just told him it was my job and that we would need to speak to you to get more information. He can't know about me being a Makai Knight or anything about Horrors. When police find out about this sort of thing, they tend to behave very stupidly and wind up getting a lot of people killed."

_And yet you still help out with cold cases and have friends in several law enforcement agencies._

"And none of them know about Horrors or how my job is to hunt them," she stressed, glaring down at her right bicep.

"So what do you suggest we tell him, my dear?" Regina asked, now leaning against the side of her desk, arms still crossed, and still frowning.

Emma shrugged and moved to the other end of the desk and leaned up against it the same way the brunette currently was. "I'm not sure. I don't really like lying to people in general. I just tell them enough of the truth for them to use it to make up their own lies about it. Say I just saved somebody from a Horror that is still in human form? I call it a serial killer while I'm chasing it down, and they tend to go with that, and it is the truth. They just assume that I'm a part of whatever agency that takes credit for removing a serial killer off the streets, or whatever. I never actually claim to be from the FBI or Interpol or local PD."

"Wonderful," the former queen rolled her eyes. "A knight with a secret identity that doesn't like lying to protect said secret identity. Some bodyguard you turned out to be."

Emma blinked and turned to meet Regina's gaze just as she turned back for the same idea.

"That would work," the blond commented.

"Yes, it would," the brunette stated. "You're my bodyguard that I hired from the city. Because while I was there... I was attacked, and you defended me. And now the same ones, or similar, that attacked me are now coming after me and my son. As for what happened last night, well I can have Sydney print something up if it becomes necessary. All you'll have to say to anyone is that you did your job and the Sheriff was there to protect the town. Is that satisfactory?"

"And the Sheriff?" she nodded toward the closed door.

"I'll handle him," Regina assured her. "Have a seat. This shouldn't take too long."

"You will be giving him, and any others you have, back his heart at some point, won't you?" Emma prompted as she took her seat. The Evil Queen shot her with a patented glare, but said nothing until she buzzed the intercom and instructed the Sheriff to come back in. The door was opened, closed and locked again, both women sitting comfortably and watching as Graham approached the Mayor's desk.

"Sit down, Sheriff," the Mayor instructed.

He complied and looked to his boss expectantly.

"Emma Swan is my bodyguard," she stated forthright.

When nothing immediately followed, he shot a double-take between the two women and leaned forward to openly glare at the Mayor. "Is that it? Is that all you're going to tell me?" he exclaimed, aghast.

Frowning, but in a way that Emma immediately knew was faked, a well-rehearsed mask that the woman apparently found herself wearing on more than one occasion, Regina let out a tired sigh and continued. "When I visited the city last week, I was attacked. I... witnessed something that I am still having difficulty coming to grips with. Miss Swan... Emma, she, well she protected me. Her job is highly unique, only a select few are chosen for. In fact, she has stated quite proudly that she is the first woman, ever, to hold her position."

"And this position includes killing monsters wandering the highways in the night?" he confirmed.

"You can't know about that," Regina stated in a tone that broke no argument.

"Let me guess?" he sneered, leaning back in his seat. "Classified, right? I always knew something like this would happen one day, I just hoped it would be for a few more years off. After I stepped down as Sheriff, preferably."

"There is nothing classified about what happened last night," Emma said to him.

"Then what happened?" he demanded to know.

"Emma Swan did her job," Regina interrupted before anything damaging could be said. "That is all that you need to know, Sheriff. All that you _can_ know."

"Well, I'm sorry, but that's not good enough!" he said, making to stand up.

"Graham!" she shouted, stopping him in his seat in shock. "You _can't_ know about it! I wish that I didn't know. Henry, bless him, knows only a little and not what it truly is, and we both want it to stay that way. But Graham," she lowered her head and successfully squeezed out a few tears. Emma saw that they weren't _entirely_ faked. "You cannot know about it. All that you really and truly _need_ to know about it is that it is Emma Swan's job to take care of it. And that she is my bodyguard because of... _it_. You wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if you did know the whole story. And Graham? Believe me, you are much better off not knowing."

He sat silently in the chair for several long moments, mulling things over in his head. Both women were silent, allowing him time to process. Finally, he looked up and asked only one essential question.

"What are they? What... what was that... thing? Just... what is it?"

"Evil," Emma answered before Regina this time. "Pure absolute evil. And all that you'll ever need to know about my job is that I am here to protect the town and everyone in it."

Graham sat still for a moment, breathing rather heavily, but steadily. After the moment had passed, he nodded and said, "OK. What do you need from me then?"

"Your silence," the Mayor said.

"And," Emma said sheepishly, "apparently I'm going to need to start patrolling. Just around the city limits. Fortunately these... uh, they are only active at night. So one patrol at sunset, one at midnight, and then another just before dawn."

"Not a problem," the Sheriff nodded. "I'll, uh, be sure to stay out of your way. How about, to make this official so nobody will ask questions later, you come on as my deputy? It's exactly what you're doing now, protecting the Mayor and the town, and it gives you a cover for being around town where a bodyguard normally shouldn't be? And it is in the budget for me to have a deputy." He said the last part to the Mayor.

Frowning in thought, the dark-haired woman had to acknowledge that the former Huntsman had a point. She silently indicated that she had no objections to this and both she and the Sheriff looked to the Knight for her decision on the matter.

For Emma, she was honestly surprised by the offer. It wasn't like she was strapped for cash or needing a job. And the man did have a point, about it being an adequate cover and cutting down on people's suspicions for when she is inevitably found out and about or in some place she shouldn't be. Quite frankly, she didn't really want her excuse for staying in town just to be that she was her biological son's adopted mother's bodyguard.

"Sure," she said. "Let's go ahead and get all the paperwork taken care of and a schedule drawn up. And the coat stays, by the way."

"Not a problem," Graham said without seeing the disgusted look on Regina's face. "But, uh, you will need to carry a gun. Sword is fine, as long as normal people don't see it, but it is in the contract about carrying a weapon. Which in this case means a gun."

"OK," Emma shrugged. Wasn't like she was ever going to use it outside of a practice range.

"Fine," Regina interrupted the Sheriff and his new deputy. "Now if that is all, I do have work to get back to, and apparently now so do both of you. Deputy, I'll need you to pick Henry up from school today before bringing him back here. I have a meeting that is undoubtedly going to run long."

"Of course," Emma acknowledged, standing to her feet alongside Graham. "Good day, Madam Mayor."

"Goodbye, dears," she said, already back to work.

_End Part 3._


End file.
